Ghost Story
by SingerMe
Summary: I know, I know, another story by me... Sigh This one is going to take me a little longer to post than the last and I might not be able to update daily. It's also different. Hope you'll stay with me on it though.
1. Chapter 1

**Ghost Story**

I don't own these characters. I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.

 **AN: This story is totally AU. But hopefully I have stayed true to the characters of the people we all love and have done them no disservice.**

 **I also have to give high praise and many many thank yous to my friends LeighAnn and LadyKRedzz for thier advice and encouragement on this. God blessed me with some wonderful friends.**

 **GSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS**

Jack Bowers walked carefully through the graveyard trying hard not to step on the graves and silently apologizing to the occupants of them when he did. As a child his grandmother had told him it was bad luck to step on a grave and silly as it may have been, he believed it. Of course, he believed a number of things that seemed silly to most.

Tall, with deep blue eyes, brown hair and a studious look on his square jawed features, Jack looked every bit the college student and aspiring writer that he was. But he was a great deal more than that. Jack was a fifth generation Kansan, a ranch hand on his family's ranch, a loving son and grandson and also an amateur ghost hunter.

His girlfriend, Robin, sometimes grumbled that he spent more time with the dead than he did her, and though it was a slight exaggeration, it wasn't too far off the mark. Though he couldn't explain it rationally, he felt compelled to search out and look for spirits of the dearly departed. For 19 of his 22 years, it was almost as though they called him.

Born and raised outside the city proper of Dodge City, Kansas to an English teacher mom and a rancher father his upbringing was more about hard work and study than it was about ethereal beings floating around the confines of the over 100 year old house he grew up in. But he felt them there anyway.

His father's mother lived with them in the old two story clapboard structure and often told him stories of dead Indian warriors who were purportedly buried on the property as well as a few cowboys who'd been unlucky enough to come upon said Indians. She avowed more than once that their spirits still roamed freely on the land the Bowers now called home.

Jack remembered fondly, all the times he'd sit quietly at her feet by the fireplace while she'd push away a strand of pearl white hair, take another stitch in her needlepoint and regale him with stories of times past. Tales of when the land was wild and the people wilder and laws were at times, mere suggestions and not something to strictly abide by.

"I was born in this town, boy." Esther said often. "I'll most likely die here and be buried here and one day it'll be my spirit you'll see roaming across the prairie. Yes, sir, I'll be walking right alongside the likes of them that settled this area and still are here. You just wait and see."

His mother, ever practical Polly, as his dad occasionally referred to her, in private of course, scoffed at the stories. She would often shake her blonde head, casting brown eyes askance at her mother in law and say that Esther Belle Bowers was just a nice old woman who liked to make things up. Polly Bowers didn't believe in anything she couldn't see touch or taste and she took a dim view on anyone who did. A product of her Boston raising; Jack secretly thought.

Timothy Bowers, Jack's dad, never really said one way or the other, at least not to anyone but Jack. But there were a couple of times when the tall, man with the graying brown hair confided quietly to his son that he'd seen and heard things around the place that weren't quite normal.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." He'd said that the first time Jack swore he'd seen something unearthly in the barn. From that moment on, Jack and his father had an understanding between them and Jack had a nickname.

"Horatio?" It was that nickname that Tim Bowers used now when he found his son in the old Dodge City Cemetery in the middle of the day just as he thought he would. When he found he wasn't at home and wasn't scheduled for a class, he had an idea of where to find him. "What are you doing up here boy? I thought you had a test to study for."

"Hey, Dad." Jack glanced at his father before returning his gaze to the old tombstones in front of him. "I do have a test and I've already studied for it. It's nothing major."

"Oh." Tim shook his head. "But this is?"

Jack looked up, prepared to be defensive of his being there but saw the understanding in his father's eyes. "Maybe." He looked back down at the headstones in front of him. "Was there something you needed, Dad?" He continued to stare at the headstone so intently that Tim moved up to stand beside him and looked himself.

" _ **US Marshal Matt Dillon."**_ The headstone read.

"I was going to get your help with that new colt." Tim answered as he glanced at the marker next to Dillon's. "But it looks like you're really involved here. What's so impressive about these headstones? You've seen them before."

"Yeah, I have." Jack agreed. "But I noticed something today, I guess, I never saw before." He bent down and pointed to the dates on the two stones. "Look, they both have the same date of death."

"So?" Tim couldn't see what significance that would have on anything. "Lots of people die on the same day, son. It's sad but true."

"I know," Jack answered. "But from everything I've read about them and heard about them, these two were awfully close and somehow, it just seems doubly tragic to me that they would've died on the same day."

Tim plowed his hands into his pockets. "World's full of tragedy, Horatio. I can't much see the use in dredging it from the past when the present already has so much. Besides, they might've had a different view on things."

Jack pursed his lips in thought for a moment, not sure whether to tell his dad his thoughts or not. Tim Bowers wouldn't scoff at him, he was certain, but still… "Guess you're right." He said. "Come on, Dad. Let's go take care of that new colt and I'm sure there's other things we can get done."

As the two men walked away, a sudden wind moved through the cemetery, stirring the leaves on the ancient oak at the back and ruffling the too tall grass at the fringes. Tim either didn't notice or didn't think it noteworthy, but Jack did. As they reached the gates of the old burial ground, he looked once more up to the graves and gave an almost imperceptible nod to a sight only he could see. "I promise." He said silently, as he and his father climbed into Tim's old truck and they left.

Up on the hill, the specter watched them with something akin to a smile. Maybe now, finally, the truth would be known.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you all for the kind remarks and patience. I have a tendency to write a lot when I'm dealing with stress so I maybe bugging you all with stories for a while... Just sayin...**

The days following his visit to the cemetery were busy ones for Jack. With exams coming up and work needing done at the ranch and the all too rare moments he got to spend with Robin Carr, his girlfriend, he had little time to spare for ghosts but the one at the cemetery never completely left his mind.

Of course, ghosts in general were seldom far from his mind. He considered himself an amateur ghost hunter of sorts. Not like the ones on TV that showed up with a camera crew and tons of expensive equipment, took a few pictures, videos and audio recordings and left. He wanted to do more than that.

Though he had nothing against those people, he didn't think them very effective. Once their 'investigation' was over they did little to help the haunted and even less to help the ones doing the haunting. Jake always felt those souls that roamed the earth long after death, did so because they needed help. He genuinely wanted to be that help.

He didn't usually see and talk to the ghosts like that girl on the TV show and he doubted his name was written down somewhere in the other world as any sort of threat to evil like hers was. But he could feel those spirits and somehow he instinctively knew when they needed help. He, of course, couldn't always help them, but he did what he could, when he could.

Though finding the time to help them was hard to do, like lately, he still tried and intended to continue to do so, especially for the ghost in the cemetery. He didn't quite know who it was or what it wanted but he intended to find that out the first chance he got.

That chance came about a week later. He'd just come home from a short trip into town when he felt it. A chill wind on a warm day that settled in his bones and told him he wasn't alone as he stepped out of his rust colored Ford Bronco and headed towards the house. Stopping suddenly, he took a quick look around.

At first, he saw nothing but the old weathered barn across the yard, its faded red painted sides standing out in stark contrast to the brown grass around it. His father's rusted old brown F250 was sitting in front of the barn's double doors, bags of feed lying in the bed waiting to be unloaded.

Dollar, his gelding, was standing in the corral to the side, happily munching on what green grass was left this late in the year. Jim, his half shepherd, half mongrel dog was lazing it in the late afternoon sun not far from Dollar and obviously noticing nothing out of the ordinary.

The house, to his left, was quiet as it should be at 2 in the afternoon. Its wooden sides weren't heaving or shimmering or anything else you might expect with a specter nearby. And nothing in the wide front yard, with its now ornamental water well, seemed out of place. But there was something there, somewhere.

"I know you can feel me." A voice said from behind him. But when Jack whirled around, he saw nothing.

"Where are you? Who are you?" Jack struggled to keep his voice calm and even. Although he wasn't exactly afraid, it was a bit unsettling to hear a bodiless voice in your ear like that.

"I am someone in need of help." The voice responded, again from behind him and again when he turned he found nothing.

"Help? What kind of help?" When the air around him began to warm, he thought he'd perhaps pushed too hard and quickly amended his words. "I mean, of course, I'll help but how? What is it you want me to do?"

The air turned colder once again as the voice replied. "You will soon know."

"What's that mean?" Jack queried but the cold and the eerie feeling suddenly disappeared and he knew he was by himself again. Even so, he took another long look around him, satisfying himself that he was indeed alone and not the victim of some sort of prank. Shaking his head, he continued on into the house and up the stairs to his room. He needed to change and go out and help his dad unload the feed. He didn't do it though.

His second opportunity to figure the problem out was when he walked inside his room to find a book lying on his bed. He was majoring in history at college and had a great a passion for western history so he had managed to compile a large number of books on the subject. But this book wasn't one of them.

This wasn't a history book at all, in fact. It looked like a doctor's treatment ledger from back in the 1800's. He'd seen something like that in the Boot Hill Museum once. It had belonged to a Dr. Galen Adams, Dodge City's only physician for a large number of years.

Picking it up, Jack found, with some surprised excitement, this was either that very book or one just like it. Opening it up with trembling hands, he found, in beautiful penmanship, that very physician's name written. Flipping through the pages he found the ledger documented the health and physical condition of only one person. The same name on one of those markers in the cemetery. A name he knew and heard about many times as a kid growing up but still didn't know.

Tucking the book under his arm, he quickly descended the stairs and down the hallway to his grandmother's room, full of heavy old furniture and memories. If anyone could tell him something about the tome, it would be her. She'd lived in Dodge her entire life and her parents and grandparents before her.

"Grandma?" He called as he knocked on the door.

"Come in." The elder called.

Walking in, Jack found her sitting in his grandfather's old wing chair, embroidering and listening to the news. "Grandma, I need you to look at something." He said as he thrust the book in her direction.

With a slight frown, Esther took the proffered ledger and carefully looked the cover over before opening it up and looking inside. For several long moments, she said nothing as she looked at one page after another. Near the back of the book, she gasped when she read what was written there. Finally, she looked up at Jack.

"There's always been rumors about this." She glanced down at the pages again. "But no one ever knew for sure." She took a deep breath and looked back up at her grandson. "What are you going to do about this?"

Jack shook his head. "I don't know yet, grandma. I just don't know."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Jack and his grandmother went over the book once and yet again; reading each notation written there by a man now long dead about another long dead resident of Dodge. But other than the startling entry at the back, there wasn't anything else that they could immediately see to help figure out the mystery of it all.

"Well, Jack boy." His grandmother sighed as she closed the book and handed it back to her grandson. "It's a pure puzzle and that's the truth of it."

"I know." Jack nodded as he accepted the rather heavy tome. "I have no idea what to do with this information. I mean, I could probably take it to the local newspaper or even call the local TV news station. But what do I say about it? How do I explain where I got the book or why it's even important? While it's true that these people are historical figures here in Dodge, not too many people are interested in Dodge history."

Esther shook her head. "I don't know, boy. But who ever that there ghost was, it wants to get this information out."

"Yeah." Jack turned for the door. "But I can't do that until I know why."

"What you gonna do to figure that out?" His grandmother's faded blue eyes drilled into him.

Jack considered that. "I'm going to do a lot of research. Somewhere is the answer. I'll find it."

But Jack's research, of necessity, had to wait. He had another exam to study for and with one of the ranch hands down, he'd promised his father even more help. He simply didn't have time. But he vowed not to give up the idea. After all, he'd made a promise, even if it was to a ghost.

It wasn't until two weeks later, when Jack was at supper with Robin that he was able to give any real concentrated thought to the ledger and what he should do about it. He'd told Robin about it, of course, and the pretty auburn haired girl seemed as excited about what it could mean as he and his grandmother were. But she noticed he hadn't mentioned anyone else.

"What do your mom and dad think about it?" She asked already knowing the answer.

"They don't know." Jack confessed. "You know how my mom is. She wouldn't believe any of it and she'd be certain that I stole that book."

"And your dad?"

"Well," Jack shrugged. "He might believe me, but I doubt he'd be too enthusiastic about me spending time on something like this when I have school and ranch work to do."

"Soooooo." Robin's blue eyes watched him closely. "You're going to just drop it?"

Jack shook his head. "I can't, Robin. I have no idea why this is important but I know it is. And I just have to try."

"But what would you accomplish? I mean, all of the people are dead. Nothing you find out will help them in any way."

"Well, maybe." He agreed. "But then again, maybe not. I mean whoever this ghost was, didn't contact me for no reason."

"That's true." Robin nodded as she took a drink of her shake. "So, where do we start?"

"We?" Jack looked at her hopefully. Telling Robin about his forays into the supernatural had become almost habit, but she had never really seemed to be that gung ho about helping him. Although she hadn't said no when he'd asked, until now she hadn't exactly volunteered either.

"Yeah, we." Robin nodded. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but the whole idea interests me. Maybe, because it's about people who once lived right here in Dodge."

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad to have your help, Robin. Thank you." He smiled gratefully over at her.

Leaning over, Robin graced him with a sweet kiss to the lips. "You're welcome."

After their meal was finished, Jack took Robin home and then headed back to the ranch. But as he drove, he didn't feel like heading straight home. Twisting the wheel, he turned to the north and headed up to the old cemetery.

Contrary to popular belief, Boot Hill cemetery, which no longer held the bodies of its original 34 residents, was not the only cemetery in town or the one that most of the founding members of Dodge City had been buried in. That distinction went to Maple Grove. Developed about 15 years after Dodge was founded it held society's best while Boot Hill originally held the worst.

It was to Maple Grove that Jack headed. Boot Hill was now a part of a museum and held little more than antiques and memories. Jack needed more than that. He needed information.

Pulling onto the well maintained property of the old burial grounds, Jack saw nothing of the two full time employees, the cemetery kept on hand at this time of the year. Of course it was late, well after dark and he didn't really expect to. But he did wonder why the gates were still open. Usually they were closed by now. Of course that wouldn't have stopped him but he was glad he didn't have to try and scale the surrounding wall.

Deciding it didn't matter, Jack drove as far as he could, grabbed a flashlight from his glove box and then got out of his truck, turned up his coat collar and walked up to the headstones he wanted to see.

For several minutes, Jack stood stock still in front of the two just looking at them. He'd been in that exact same spot many times and at first he saw nothing different than from the last time. Then he saw it, a soft glow shimmering just above the ground.

"I found the book you left." Jack spoke to it, knowing it was the specter that he knew was asking for his help. "I read it but I don't know exactly what you want me to do with the information in it. What exactly do you want?"

"I want the truth to be known." The voice which sounded neither male or female answered. "It's time it's known."

"The truth?" Jack questioned. "Everyone knows or at least has heard the rumor. My grandmother knew it even. What more is there to tell?"

"The truth." The disembodied mist answered. "The truth."

TBC

 **AN: There really is a Maple Grove Cemetary in Dodge and it is the oldest one there, aside from the now empty Boot Hill.**


	4. Chapter 4

"The truth." The words rang in Jack's ears as he finally drove home that night. What truth? Truth about what? His thoughts circled in on themselves. When he got home, he made a beeline for his room and quickly went to the drawer he'd secured the book in.

Pulling it out, he sat down at his desk, pulled out a pen and some blank paper and then began to read and make notes on what he read. A couple of hours later, he sat back, exhausted, neck stiff and seriously needing a cup of coffee. But what he'd read and noted gave him a greater idea of what kind of person those records were about.

As he got to his feet, his cell phone rang and looking down, Jack saw it was Robin. "Hey, honey." He smiled as he answered. He couldn't help it. The merest mention of her name made him smile.

"Hello." She answered. "Been working on the book?"

"How'd you know?"

"I know you." She answered. "You won't be satisfied until you figure this whole thing out."

"Yep, you're right." He acknowledged, cradling the phone to his ear and heading down stairs to the kitchen. "I just got finished going over the book in detail and taking notes. I'm going to get myself some coffee and then see what I can find on the internet."

"How about coming over here and we'll both drink coffee and research." She offered.

"I thought you had classes in the morning?" He stopped his progress. He'd much rather be with her but he didn't want to keep her up all night as he was sure he would be.

"My first class isn't until 10 and it's just a lecture from some visiting big wig of some kind. I was planning on skipping it anyway. So why don't you go ahead and come over. I'll have the coffee waiting."

Jack couldn't resist. "I'll be there in a little bit, he grinned at the thought.

"Jack? That you?" Polly Bowers voice could be heard coming from the living room.

"Uh, yeah, Mom." He answered as he walked to the doorway and saw his mother sitting on the couch, knitting. "I was just talking to Robin. I'm going to go over there to study."

"Study what?" She looked a little suspicious.

"History." Jack answered as he turned and headed back for the stairs. "I don't know when I'll be back, Mom, but don't wait up."

"That boy." Polly sighed. She trusted her son completely and knew that no matter how late Jack stayed at Robin's place, nothing would happen. He'd been too well brought up and taught but still it didn't look good.

"That boy, what?" Tim, her husband asked as he came in and took a seat in his favorite recliner, reaching for the TV remote.

"Oh, your son." She replied without looking up from her handwork. "He's taking off at this time of night to go over to Robin's house to 'study', he said."

"You don't believe him?" Tim looked over curiously at his wife. She knew their son as well as he did and he knew he could be trusted.

"Oh, I believe him." She replied. "But I'm just wondering exactly what it is he's studying besides his books.

"Now, Polly, you know he wouldn't…" Tim started to defend his son before Polly waved him off.

"Oh, I don't mean that, Tim. Jack's a good and moral boy. But I have a feeling he's up to his ghost hunting again and…"

"And if he is, it's his business not ours." Tim gave her a reproving look. "Jack has never gotten into trouble with his pursuits in either this world or the next, so I think we need to just allow him to do whatever it is he thinks is right." He studied her closely. "Alright?"

"I didn't say anything." Polly tried to sound innocent but Tim knew her too well.

Shaking his head, he turned on the TV and searched for something to watch while he worried silently about his son.

Racing back up, to his room, Jack retrieved the medical record book and his notes. He'd heard part of his parent's conversation and knew his mother didn't exactly approve of his 'pursuits' but he wasn't too worried. His father would back him and he knew his grandmother would.

After retrieving what he needed, Jack left and drove over to Robin's suburban home on the north side of Dodge. Her parents, an attorney and a housewife, named Gene and Leigh Ann Carr, were fond of Jack and quite welcoming when he arrived.

"Robin's up in her room." Gene told Jack as he let him in. "Go on up."

"Thanks, Mr. Carr." Jack nodded at the older, silver-haired man and went on up.

"Hey," Robin grinned when she opened the door to him and kissed him on the cheek. "You made it here quickly."

"This time of night, there's not much traffic." He replied as he divested himself of his coat and scarf and placed the book and notes on her desk.

"That the famous book?" She studied the ancient tome, almost afraid to pick it up for fear she'd damage it.

"Yeah." Jack answered. "I went all the way through it when I got home and made some notes but right now, I don't know if they'll be useful notes or not."

Robin picked up his notebook and flipped through the pages of handwriting looking at the things he'd thought noteworthy. "Well, I'm no doctor, but from what I can see, this poor person was hurt several times. I mean, look at all of the injuries and… oh my."

She looked up at Jack. "Seriously?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah. See what I mean?"

"I certainly do." She looked at the information again with a shake of her head. "Well, let's get to work. Where shall we start?"

"Well, first of all, let's see what else we can find on this one." He tapped the book. "And then we'll look up the other one listed."

"Sounds good to me." She smiled as she sat down and pulled up google on her laptop.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I'm going to be out this weekend so I probably won't get anything else edited or posted until next week. Hope this will do until I get back.**

After several hours, Jack leaned back in the chair, stretching and yawning. He and Robin had taken turns on the computer and he was the last one on. Robin was laying atop her bed, fast asleep. Looking at the clock, Jack saw it was one o'clock and way past time for him to call it a day.

Jack considered waking her to say goodbye, but he didn't have the heart. Instead, he softly kissed her and left a note saying he would call her later.

Mr. Carr let him out and advised him to drive carefully. After assuring him he would, Jack wearily climbed into his bronco and headed for home. As he drove, he went over in his mind all of the things he and Robin had found out. Fascinating facts, to be true. But they were incomplete. He instinctively knew that there was more, a great deal more.

But how was he to get at it? Though he and Robin hadn't searched absolutely every website and every obscure notation on the internet concerning the subject, he was fairly certain there wasn't much more on there to be found that would help them.

Glancing to the book, now residing on the seat beside him, it dawned on Jack that the key to finding the answers, weren't in the present, they were in past. The internet was a vast storehouse of information on absolutely everything. But though there was a lot there, he realized there was probably a lot not there. Take for instance, the book he now had.

He, nor Robin, had found anything on the many places they looked other than a mention of the book now housed in the Boot Hill museum. There were no excerpts, no sample pages no quotes and no mention of the existence of other books like it. Glancing again to the seat beside him, he knew there was at least one other book. Could there be more? And what of the book in the museum, who was it on? Could it help?

One thing for certain, he knew that the next day, or should he say later that day, he was making a trip to the Boot Hill Museum.

The next afternoon, Jack skipped a lecture and went instead to the museum. A friend of his, Todd Wilkerson, was one of the employees of the museum and occasionally worked in the gift shop.

He'd let Jack in on the sly a couple of times after hours to view the artifacts housed there without having to pay the entry fee and deal with the crowds. Of course, Jack had never harmed or touched anything and he had reciprocated by helping Todd out with both his schoolwork as well as the girls.

Though, Jack didn't think of himself as a lady's man of any kind, he was much more comfortable around girls than his dark skinned, curly headed friend with the thick glasses and high pitched voice. More than once, Jack had, with Robin's reluctant help, fixed Todd up and then even loaned him his truck to take the girl out.

So far, Todd hadn't been able to hang onto any of the girls but he still kept trying, which meant he continued to be in Jack's debt. So when Jack approached him, asking to get in after hours and not only see the book, but to actually hold and read it, Todd had to reluctantly agree. He didn't want to, but he owed him.

Later that evening, as the employees were leaving, Todd snuck Jack and Robin both into through the back gate. Robin, for some reason, felt as strongly about solving this mystery as Jack did and upon learning Jack's plans, she wasn't about to let him go alone.

After waiting in the back of the old Victorian house on the property until everyone was gone, the two finally emerged when Todd called it safe. Quickly as they could, the three young people quickly made their way to the building which housed the book and went in. Turning the alarm off and pulling a set of keys from his pocket, Todd quickly opened the case and pulled the book out, handing it to Todd. "Hurry up, alright. I don't want to be fired and I don't want to go to jail. Ya hear?"

Jack merely nodded as he and Robin sat down with the book and a notepad and opened it up. The book was not about any of the people he'd hoped, but there were a few mentions of them.

"Jack." Robin stopped him when he reached for his notebook. "Instead of taking the time for notes, let's just take pictures of each page. I have my cell. We can print this stuff out at home and read it then."

"Whatever you do, do it quick." Todd cautioned. "I think I heard something."

Jack nodded. "Won't take long." He assured as he and Robin worked together to take a pic of each one of the pages. They had just closed the book and placed it back in the case when they heard a distinctive call.

"Who's there?" A loud, deeply gruff voice called.

"Turn that flashlight out!" Todd demanded of Jack. "It's security!"

Jack did as asked and grabbed his notebook, stuffing it in his pocket. Then taking Robin's hand, followed Todd as he led them to the back of the museum.

"We gotta go over the back fence." Todd told them, taking a frightened glance behind him, sure he heard footsteps. "I ain't supposed to be here this late and you all sure ain't supposed to be here at all."

Quickly as they could, they exited the building and continued to the fence. But the footsteps were heard again and closer. "Who's back there?" The guards voice sounded extremely close.

"Hurry!" Todd whispered.

But it was too late. The guard came around the corner just at that moment and aimed a strong beam of light in their direction. The three young people froze, certain they would now be arrested or worse. But suddenly a board, from a stack near the back of the building, flew up into the air and assaulted the guard.

All three people stood and watched in astonishment as the board, with nothing attached to it, walloped the guard on the back and the legs, making him yell out, drop his flashlight and run, trying to escape the attacking wood. As soon as the guard disappeared around the side of the building, the wood suddenly just dropped to the ground.

"Run." Jack told his friends, realizing what had happened. "He'll be back."

Quickly, all three jumped the fence and hastily made their way up the hill behind the museum and as far from there as they could get before they nearly dropped from exhaustion.

Todd was the first to recover enough to talk. "Wha… what just happened back there?" In the dark, his face was a little hard to read but his wide, frightened brown eyes shown.

"Someone wanted to help us." Jack answered.

"Someone?" Todd's voice went up an octave. "There wasn't nobody at the end of that board."

"Yeah, there was." Robin answered quickly. "You just couldn't see him or her?" She looked over at Jack who merely shrugged.

"You..." Tood swallowed hard. "You mean because it was dark?" Todd really wanted to believe that.

Jack and Robin exchanged glances as they got to their feet. "Yeah." Jack answered. "Just because it was dark."

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

"It was the ghost that helped us, wasn't it?" Robin asked as, after they'd walked back and Jack had collected his Bronco to drive her home. Todd went his own way, satisfied that what he thought he'd seen, he hadn't.

"I think it was." He nodded. "Whoever it is, that's contacted me and left me that book, didn't want us to get caught."

"Well, I'm with him." Robin sighed. "I didn't want to get caught either."

"Me either. And we can't afford to be."

"Other than infuriating our parents and having to suffer the embarrassment of being arrested, why can't we 'afford' it?" Robin asked curiously, knowing there was more.

"We'll have to wait until we can take a look at the pics you took of the book." Jack answered, glancing over at her. "But I think some of the puzzle we're working is in that book and may even lead us to some more pieces. If we were to get caught, it would hamper our ability to figure this thing out."

Robin nodded in understanding; "Then it was the ghost. He really does want us to find out everything doesn't he?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, he sure does. Or maybe, she does. I don't know yet who the ghost is but I do know that I want to find out."

After stopping to grab some snacks, the two drove back to Jack's house and began the second and most intense faze of their research. The book, they'd copied, had a lot of interesting information but most of it had nothing to do with what they were looking into. But the things they did find, that did relate, not only intrigued them but led them to even more questions and the realization that they still needed more information.

"Damn." Jack softly swore. "I thought for sure that this would give us more than this. I mean what we've got is good but…"

"But it's not enough." Robin was as disappointed as he was.

"Yeah." Jack sighed. "I mean, even when I saw the book wasn't the one I hoped it was, I still thought we'd find more than this. After all it is for Matt Dillon's deputy."

"Yeah, but it's a medical journal. Which means it has to do with this..." She glanced at the pages. "Festus Hagen's health than anything else."

"I know, but I was hoping it would mention something more of the circumstances surrounding the many times he was hurt than it does. You know, maybe mention Dillon or..." He sighed in frustration.

"Where do we look now?" Robin asked.

"I don't know." Jack got to his feet and held out a hand to her. "But I do know, I need to get you home. Come on. We'll figure this out later."

As Jack drove Robin home, they talked about what they'd found so far and discussed various ways to find even more information. Nothing they came up with, seemed likely to get them what they needed but it didn't mean they would quit. By no means did it mean that.

After making sure Robin was safely inside her house, Jack drove back home, tired and dispirited. It briefly entered his mind that maybe the whole thing was an illusion. The facts in the two books were real enough, but maybe he'd imagined the disembodied voice or the feelings up at the graveyard.

But when he got home and returned to his room, he knew it hadn't been a figment of his imagination because when he entered his room, he saw it. There, lying on his bed, was another book. At first, he thought maybe he or Robin had left the one he already had there. But picking it up, he saw it was the book they'd gone to the museum looking for. The one he needed.

"Thank you." He smiled at no one. "I promise, I will use this information wisely to get the truth told."

Jack heard nothing and felt nothing. But he had a feeling that someone had just nodded at him in approval.

Grabbing his cell from his jacket, Jack called Robin and told her what he'd found. Excitedly the two made plans to get together again to work on what Jack was coming to think of as his mission. But as the both of them had skipped a couple of classes and had exams coming up, as well as Jack had work on the ranch to do, they decided that no matter how badly they wanted to jump right into it, it'd have to wait until at least the weekend.

For Jack, Saturday couldn't have come soon enough. Between the night at the museum and then, he'd read as much of the book as he could but each thing he found led him to more questions as the other books had done. The real work would have to wait until he and Robin could get together.

They did at breakfast Saturday morning. Jack related to Robin what he'd been able to read so far and together they complied a list of things and places they needed to do and visit. After eating, the two set out to work. By Sunday evening, as they sat in Robin's room, looking at all the info they compiled, they felt like they had figured most of it out.

"Jack, this is amazing." Robin sat back in her chair.

"Yeah, it is." Jack agreed. "But I just can't help but feel that after all of this, there's still more."

"Like what?" Robin arched a brow at him.

"Like why?" Jack waved a hand at all the notes and pictures and books. "Why is important that this information get out? I just can't figure out why it's important for this to be known now, after over a hundred years. What difference does it make?"

"Must've been important." Robin rolled her shoulders, tired after all the time bent over her laptop and reading ancient books about people she'd only heard of. "The ghost wouldn't have brought you this information if it wasn't."

"True." Jack replied. "And although I don't know why, may never know why, I promised to bring this information to light and I'm going to."

"How?" Robin watched him get to his feet and grab his coat to go home.

"Too late tonight." He bent over and gave her a kiss. "But tomorrow morning, I am going to do what I've been going to school for. I'm going to write a story."

The next morning, having no classes for the day, Jack got up early, fixed himself a large cup of coffee, a bagel and sat down at his computer and began to work. It took him all day to get less than a third of it written. But he was on a roll and he knew it. He might have to skip another class or two and beg off of some of his ranch work, but he was determined before the week was out, he'd have a story that someone wanted told and many people would want to read.

Scrolling back to the top of the first page, Jack sat back and began to reread what he'd written so far.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

The Truth

The winter of 1887-88 had been hard on the town of Dodge. Two blizzards combined with endless cold winds sweeping down the streets had served to scare all but the hardiest of souls and keep them out of town and off the streets. Of course, for the weary Marshal of Dodge City, it was actually a blessing in disguise. The previous year had been even tougher.

It began right before the herds had arrived. Matt Dillon had ridden out to the different camps and had his seasonal talk with each of the trail bosses about the town rules and restrictions. The talks had gone well and as soon as he'd wrapped them up, he headed back to town, hopeful that his talks would've had some effect and the season would not only be a good one, but a safe one as well.

But he didn't know that while he was riding around to the various herd's camps, there was a gang in town, waiting for the cattle buyers to deposit great sums of money into the bank, so that they could remove it.

The robbery took place just one day before he returned. And although Festus and a small band of volunteers took off after them, it wasn't long before the hill man realized he'd lost them and to continue to follow would be futile. Reluctantly they returned to Dodge, arriving just about the same time as Matt made it back to town.

He wanted to head straight out himself in search of the bandits. But after a discussion with Festus, he was certain there would be no way to track them. If Festus Hagen couldn't find their trail, no one could. Staying in town still didn't sit right with him, but as one of the herds would be in the next day, he felt he had to.

He settled for sending wires to all the surrounding areas with descriptions of the three men who pulled off the robbery. If he got a response, he planned on taking off after the men, whether the season was over or not.

Charlie Truesdell, the boss of the first herd in, found Matt at the jail early the next morning, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Matt?" He stepped in, looking around as he did so.

"Charlie." Matt nodded. "You all just get in?"

"Sure did." Charlie nodded. "Herds just south east."

"Well, good." Matt smiled. "Care for some coffee?" He indicated the steaming pot on the small pot bellied stove.

"Uh, no, Matt." Charlie let out a weighted breath. "I uh, need to talk to you about something."

"Oh?" Matt's instincts told him whatever was on Charlie's mind, wasn't good.

"I'm afraid I might have brought more than cows with me this trip." Charlie moved further into the room and tucked his thumbs in his belt.

"What are you talking about?" Matt put his cup down and turned fully to the cowman. "What's happened?"

"Nothing yet." Charlie answered. "But I think it might and I figured I owed you a head's up after what you done for me last year." The year prior, Matt had kept him from being stabbed in the back by a drunken trail hand who thought Charlie hadn't paid him enough. Charlie hadn't forgotten that.

"What do you mean, nothing yet?" Matt wanted to know. "Charlie, what is going on?"

"I heard a couple of my hands talking last night, Matt. Sounded to me like they're planning on some mischief while they're here. I didn't hear all of the details, but I did hear them talking about you and Miss Kitty over at the Long Branch. Said something about getting even with you."

Matt stiffened at that. Threats against him were nothing new and though he took them seriously, they didn't hinder him or cause him to worry. But threats against Kitty were a different matter. "Are you sure about this, Charlie?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, Matt." Charlie nodded glumly. "Like I told you, I didn't hear everything and it could just be that what I didn't hear proves them harmless, but… well, I figured you ought to know anyway."

"What are these men's names. Charlie?" Matt grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper from his desk. "I want their descriptions too."

"Well, the biggest of the two is called Toke."

"Toke?" The odd name sounded vaguely familiar to Matt though he wasn't sure why.

"Yeah, Toke Richards." Charlie confirmed. "He's about 22, maybe 25. He's got brown hair and eyes. I'd say he's about my height, 5' 11 or so and he's kinda heavy." Charlie paused as Matt wrote down the details.

The other one goes by Hosey Railing. He's younger, about 18 or so. He's got blonde hair and blue eyes and he's kinda thin. He's a little taller than Hosey, maybe 6' 1" or 2". I picked em up about 150 miles south of here. They said they just needed to work to get a stake. I didn't much like their looks, but as it happened, I was a couple of men down so I hired em."

"Couple of men down?" Matt asked about the conincidence.

"Yeah. Couple of new ones." Charlie shrugged. "Trail was too hard for em, I guess. They took off in the middle of the night."

"These two men, Toke and Hosey, they good workers?"

Charlie shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Didn't cause no problems. Did what they was told."

"Do you know where they're at right now?"

"Naw." Charlie sighed. "I told the men to stay in camp but those two took off. Didn't even stick around for their money."

"Alright, Charlie." Matt smiled gratefully at the cattleman. "I appreciate the information."

"What are you gonna do, Matt?" Charlie wanted to know.

"I'm going to find those two and have a little talk with them." Matt answered. "I'll find out right quick what they're up to."

After he and Charlie left the jail, Matt quickly strode down the street to the Long Branch. His first priority was to make sure Kitty was safe and that she stayed that way. Kitty wasn't up yet but a brief conversation with Sam set his mind at ease.

Leaving there, he set out on a search.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Although Matt expected a long hard search, it actually didn't take him long to find the men he was looking for behind the stables. Both appeared to be drunk.

"Alright, you two. Get to your feet." Matt ordered. He didn't draw his gun but he kept his hand close to it. He wasn't sure if these two had seriously intended to do harm or were just bragging blow hards.

"Who are you?" The shorter, bigger of the two demanded as he looked up at Matt. From Charlie's description, Matt figured this one must be Toke.

"Marshal." Matt answered. "Now get up. "

"Why?" Toke demanded, refusing to move. The other man, which wasn't much more than a boy, looked sullenly up at Matt but let his partner do the talking.

"Because I told you to." Matt took a wary step backwards when it looked like Toke was moving his hand down, towards his own gun. "Keep your hand away from that gun." He warned. "And get to your feet before I jerk you up."

Both men exchanged glances and finally got to their feet. "Alright, we're up." Toke growled. "Now what do you want? We ain't done nothing."

"No, and you're not going to." Matt answered. "I heard some talk that you two had some sort of problem with me. I want to know what it is."

"Ah, it wasn't much." Hosey suddenly spoke up. "We was just…"

"Shut up, Hosey." Toke snapped at his friend.

"You were just, what?" Matt glared at him. "Threatening me?"

"We was just talkin'." Hosey started to protest.

"I said, shut up." Toke turned fully to his partner, his hand moved to his gun.

Matt knew if he didn't do something, there'd be gunplay and he didn't want that. Quickly as he could, he threw up his right arm and backhanded Toke, grabbing the man's gun from his holster before he fell. Quickly, he turned the gun on the other one. "Take your gun out and throw it away." He commanded.

Having seen the lightening quick reflexes of the lawman, Hosey quickly complied. Though he and Toke had talked about getting revenge for the death of Toke's older brother, supposedly killed by Dillon, he hadn't intended on following through with it. But looking over at Toke, he wasn't so sure about him.

"Alright now." Matt took a step back and kept the gun pointed at the two. "Let's go."

"Where?" Toke glared at him as he struggled to his feet, his head still reeling from Matt's blow.

"To jail." Matt told him.

Toke made to step forward but at the last second he lunged at Matt, thinking he stood a chance of knocking him over. But Matt was ready for him. With a quick side step, Matt moved out of the way of the charging man and brought his gun down on him, addling him once again.

"I'm not going to fool with you two again." Matt growled. "Now MOVE!"

With a semi-frightened look on Hosey's face and a glower on Toke's, both men did as Matt ordered and slowly moved out and towards the jail.

With no intentions of shooting either man and certain that he had his bluff in on them, Matt stuck Hoke's gun in his belt and quickly bent, retrieving Hosey's. He didn't expect any problems. But Toke was more determined than Matt expected and before he could straighten up, Toke turned and took another dive at him, grabbing for the gun in Matt's hand, knocking them both to the ground.

Matt, easily the strongest and tallest of the two was surprised by Toke's determination to gain control of the gun. And Toke's determinati0n gave him power he'd not likely had otherwise. He actually managed to overpower Matt and get him on his back for a moment. But Matt pushed hard and unseated him, knocking him backwards.

As the two men rolled around on the ground, Hosey stood by in stunned silence, unable to make a move as he watched them. He wanted to run or call out or do something, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to do anything but helplessly watch as the fight played out in front of him.

Having gotten the man off of him, and gained his feet, Matt was certain he could now finish this fight and get these men to the jail. But he hadn't seen that when Toke fell backward, he'd practically landed on his gun until Toke grabbed it and brought to bear. Thinking quickly, Matt kicked out, hitting Toke's arm that held the gun just as Toke fired. The bullet missed Matt, but it hit Hosey.

Another kick and Matt knocked Toke out completely, then whirled and dropped down next to Hosey. "Hang on, Son." Matt told him. "I'll get Doc. You're going to be alright."

But Hosey shook his head as he reached up and gripped Matt's shirt with the last of his strength. "I… I was… wasn't going to do… nothing. I… I was drunk. Please… I… I didn't…" Hosey said nothing more as his eyes rolled back in his head and he breathed his last.

Gently loosening the dead man's grip of his shirt, Matt laid him down and stood back up. Going over to Toke, he grabbed the gun once again. He hadn't wanted anyone dead. He had been positive that he could handle the situation without it. He'd been wrong.

"Matthew?" Festus called. "He'd been nearing the stable when he heard the shot. Racing to where he'd heard the gunfire, he found Matt standing, his own gun in his holster and another gun in his hand. There were two men on the ground, seemingly lifeless. "What happened?"

"Long story." Matt answered, pointing down to Hosey. "Get him over to Percy Crump, will ya?" He nodded towards Hosey. "I'll get this one to jail." He grunted as he bent to pull Toke up.

"Shore will." Festus answered, watching as Matt pulled the now semiconscious Toke to his feet and headed him towards the jail.

Later that day, after Toke had been locked up and Hosey's body had nailed into a coffin, Matt found a wanted posted on Toke Richards, only his last name wasn't Richards. It was Crayton. A wanted posted had been issued out of Topeka for him for bank robbery and murder. Seeing the last name Crayton, a couple of things fell into place for Matt.

Two years prior, he'd tracked down a stage robber and killed him in a fierce yet brief gun battle. The stage robber's last name was Crayton. His first name was Hank. Matt now understood why Toke had acted as he had, but it didn't explain Hosey.

However, Toke did. Until a deputy from Hays showed up to take him north for trial, he took great pleasure in telling Matt that Hosey was an innocent kid that'd just been in the wrong company at the wrong time and he shouted long and loud that though he'd fired the gun, it was Matt who was responsible for the young man's death. Matt didn't disagree and though Doc and Festus and Kitty assured him it wasn't so, he still blamed himself for the death of the 18 year old boy.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

The rest of the season went about as normal as any did. A total of 12 herds made it in and though the jail cells hosted at least one cowboy each night, none of them were really bad and all of them were released the next morning. But although things seemed normal, Matt felt it was anything but.

He wasn't sure when it'd actually begun but he felt a nagging in his gut, telling him his time as a lawman was coming to an end. It wasn't just that he'd been out of town when his bank was being robbed or that a young man, who'd done nothing wrong except choose a bad drinking partner, got killed and he couldn't prevent it. Of course, those two events didn't help matters any.

But Matt had been feeling a certain dissatisfaction in his job for some time now and he was beginning to question whether he wanted to continue or not. After the herds were gone, he'd taken a long ride and stayed gone for two days, trying to puzzle out his feelings on the matter as well a few other things. When he returned, he knew what he wanted to do, but upon walking into the jail, he saw he had no time to do it.

"Matthew." Festus greeted him. 'Shore am glad you're back. I was gonna come lookin' fer ya if ya hadn't a come in today."

"Why?" Matt frowned as he dropped his gear to the floor just inside the door. "Something happen?"

Festus extended a yellow piece of paper to his friend before Matt could even remove his hat and hang it up. "This here tellygraph come fer ya last night. Them fellers that robbed the bank a couple of months ago got themselves caught down in Spearville. One of em was killed but the other two is a waiting for you to come and get em."

Matt grabbed the wire which confirmed what Festus had told him. "Festus, do me a favor? My horse is outside. Get him down to the stable for me, will ya? Tell Moss I'll be riding back out in a couple of hours."

"Ya going after them yahoos today, are ya?" Festus squinted up at him.

"Yes, I am." Matt answered. "But first, I need to get some supplies and send a wire telling the Sherriff I'm coming."

"Alright, Matthew." Festus shrugged. "I'll see ya directly."

After he left, Matt grabbed his empty saddle bags and headed down to the general store. As soon as he purchased enough supplies to fill them, he left and went down to the Long Branch. He'd barely seen Kitty while the herds were in town and he hadn't seen her at all before he'd ridden out two days prior. He needed to see her now.

Pausing at the doors, he looked in to not only assess the mood of the room, but to find Kitty. She was at the end of the bar, as she always was. "Kitty." He tipped his hat at her as he moved up to the bar beside her.

"Well, look at the stranger that found his way in here." Kitty remarked. "I figured you got yourself lost or something."

"No, no." Matt shook his head regretfully. "I just had something to do."

"Well, I'm glad you're back." Kitty smiled. "How bout letting me buy you a drink."

Again Matt shook his head. "Sorry, Kitty, I'm going to be heading out again in a little bit. Those men that robbed the bank have been caught down in Spearville. I have to go down and get them."

"Oh." Kitty's smile disappeared. "How long you going to be gone?"

"Just a few days." Matt assured her.

"Uh, huh." Kitty nodded. "Then you'll be taking them up to Hays and be gone another week or so and then…"

"I'm sorry, Kitty." Matt's hand was resting on the bar and he moved it closer to hers, brushing it lightly. "I wish there was something else I could do, but I need to…"

"I know, I know." Kitty waved him off. "It's alright, Matt. I understand. Just be careful and have a safe trip."

Matt stood away from the bar and nodded to her. "See ya later, Kitty."

"Bye, Matt." She answered as with a saddened expression, she watched him go.

By the time Matt had sent the wire and gotten his canteen full of clean, fresh water as well as a couple of other things done, Moss had his horse ready and waiting on him. With a sigh, he mounted and rode out towards Spearville.

The trip to Spearville was as quick as he could make it. But when he got there, he found that his return trip would not be as swift.

"I'm sorry, Marshal." Sherriff Danning gave him a hangdog look of regret. "The jail here ain't the most secure but I figured I could hold them long enough for you to get here. I didn't know one of em had a knife hid in his boot. Anyways, this morning he overpowered my deputy afore anyone knew what was happening, killed my deputy and got plumb away."

"You didn't try going after them?" Matt couldn't understand not chasing after a murderer and a bank robber.

"I couldn't." The gray headed old man told him. "I got this town to take care of. Sides, I don't get paid enough to go traipsing cross country after bandits like that."

"Yeah." Matt grunted. "Do you at least know which direction they went?"

"Sure do." Danning nodded. "South."

"South." Matt glared at the older, pot bellied man with a thatch of white on his head. "I'm gonna need more than that, Sherriff."

A few minutes later, Matt rode south out of town with a vague description of the two men, knowing that one rode a black horse with one white stocking and the other rode a bay. It wasn't much to go on, but it was all he had. He had a feeling it would be a long while before he made it back to Dodge.

Three days later, down in Indian Territory, Matt had just about decided he was on a fool's errand. He'd found no tracks and no one who either seen the two men or at least would admit it. He decided if he didn't find a trace of the two men that day, he'd go home. He had some things to take care of there that he felt he'd been needing to do for some time.

He had camped the night before on a branch of the Arkansas, too tired to go any further. As he settled down against his saddle and pulled the blanket up over him, he thought about his job, his life and realized as each day passed, he was growing more and more dissatisfied with both.

It wasn't that he thought it wasn't a worthy job or that he wasn't fit to do it. His job was important to a growing nation. He was battle scarred and worn and nights like this, sleeping on a cold hard ground, were getting harder all the time. But he knew he could still do the job and ego aside, he was probably still one of the best lawman in the west.

But he was a weary lawman. A heartsick one who was growing tired of leaving the woman he loved behind while he spent countless days in a saddle to defend a populace that cared very little for his efforts. And if he was honest with himself, and he was always honest, he knew there were other, younger men who were just as good as he or at least would be with some training and guidance.

Rolling to his side, Matt pulled the blanket up around his shoulder and sighed. "I get home, I'm going to think about some things." He said as he drifted off to sleep.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

The day was two hours old as the lawman rode further south. He'd seen a slight wisp of smoke in that direction and though he was aware that it might be nothing, he needed to check it out. The prairie grasses were up to Buck's underbelly and there were places where scrub oak and cedar were growing so closely together that he had to work around them but finally he found the source of the smoke.

"Morning, Ma'am." Matt tipped his hat to the worn out looking brown haired woman who stood over a large pot of boiling water, stirring whatever was in the pot with a large wooden paddle. Small of stature, she looked to be in her 50's but Matt knew how farm life could age a person and he guessed she was probably younger judging by the look in her brown eyes.

"Morning." She answered. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes. Ma'am." He nodded. "I'm looking for two men. Wondering if maybe you'd seen them."

The woman shielded her eyes with a hand as she looked up at Matt, seeing the badge on his chest. "I did." She answered as she returned her attention to the pot. "They're lying in the barn. Dead. I'm not strong enough to bury em. Figured I'd hitch the horse up to him later and maybe drag em aways away from here."

Matt frowned as he glanced at the leaning building she'd pointed to. Quickly dismounting, he kept his eye on the woman and headed for the doorway.

Inside, he found three men. Two were in the back and the other one was near the door. He'd never seen the bank robbers but based on the descriptions he'd had, the two in back were them. Glancing into the corral just outside of the barn, he saw two horses. A black and a bay.

"What happened here?" Matt returned to the woman's side. "How'd those men die?"

The woman glanced at Matt before looking back down. "Husband killed them. He wanted their horses."

"He the other man?" Matt could see no remorse or grief at the death of three men on her property. The woman silently nodded. "How'd he die?"

"One of them two didn't die right away. He turned and shot my husband afore he drawed his last. Husband shot again but he didn't hit nothing."

Matt regarded her as one would a mad man before he went back into the barn. The scene before him seemed to verify the woman's words. The man at the door had a gun in his hand. When Matt pried it loose, he found three rounds missing. The two men in back each had a bullet in their backs. The one was face down. But the other was twisted around, his gun out and in his hand. Above his head was a bullet hole in the back wall.

With a deep sigh, Matt rose, took off his jacket, grabbed a shovel from the barn wall and went outside looking for a place to bury them.

"You have a preference for where I bury your husband, Ma'am?" He asked.

The woman looked to the ground before finally raising her eyes to Matt. "Bury him with those other two." She answered. "He wasn't any better than they were."

Matt wanted to question that but the dead men were getting ripe and he needed to tend to them first. "Yes, Ma'am."

Though the farm sod was soft, it still took him most of the day to dig three graves and bury the three men, covering them over and placing a large rock at the head of each burial place. He was just about finished when the woman found her way to his side. Looking down at the graves she showed no emotion what so ever.

"Guess it's a good thing, them being buried instead of dragged off." She said. "Appreciate the help mister."

"Dillon." Matt answered. "My name's Matt Dillon. I'm a marshal out of Dodge City. I've been tracking these two men."

"Outlaws?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, Ma'am." Matt answered. "They robbed a bank in Dodge and killed a deputy in Spearville."

"Oh." She answered with no trace of emotion. Matt wasn't sure if she was in shock still of what happened or if she just truly didn't care.

"You going back to Dodge, now?" She asked as they walked back to the house.

"Yes, Ma'am." He nodded. "I'd like to see if I could help you in some way first though. Is there someplace you could go, some folks or something? This is pretty far out for a woman alone."

The woman quit walking and offered him a sad smile. "Funny way to put it." She sighed. "I was a woman alone when I married my husband and he brought me out here. Maybe…" She stopped talking and started walking again.

"Maybe what?" He questioned.

The woman didn't answer at first as they continued forward. She appeared to be trying to make up her mind to something. When they reached the house, she moved to the stoop and sat down, her forearms on her knees her head bowed.

Matt waited patiently, not willing to intrude on her thoughts or privacy without invitation. Finally she began to speak, though Matt wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself. She never looked at anything besides the dirt at her feet.

"First off, my name is Tilly Ward, not Ma'am. I was thirty three when I married Ben Ward. He wasn't the best looking or smartest or even the kindest. But he was the only one that asked. I figured I had no choice. The only one who could've saved me, wouldn't." She looked up at Matt then, more than simple sadness in her eyes.

"You see, I had a man before him that I loved, that I thought loved me but he wasn't willing to marry. I was 19 when I met Jeff Howard and he was 23. He was a cowboy that worked for a big ranch. He always said he couldn't marry cause he didn't have no money. 'One day', he'd say. 'One day we'll marry when I can afford a wife and find a place for us.' I believed him for a long time."

She dropped her head again and took a deep breath. "That was before I realized he really didn't want to marry. Me or anyone else. You see, he liked his freedom. He liked being alone, being his own person and having no one to worry about but himself. He liked his job and he didn't want a wife and family to tie him down. He sure didn't want me. When I realized that, I married the first man that asked."

She waved her hand at the graves. "Ben wasn't a good man but he was a man and I was tired of being alone. I was tired of people talking about me. I was a saloon woman you see. I worked one saloon after another just trying to get by. I could've done better I suppose, but I didn't care. Only thing, only man I cared about didn't care about me, leastways as much as he cared about himself."

Matt listened quietly, his thoughts muddy and troubled. "What…" He licked his dry lips. "What happened to this man, the cowboy?" He asked when she lapsed into silence.

"He's back in Winchester, the town I come from." She answered. "Least he was three years ago."

Something in Matt tripped and he suddenly knew what he needed to do, not only for this woman but someone else as well. "It's too late tonight, Tilly." He told her. "But tomorrow, I'll take you home."

The next morning, Matt and Tilly rode away from the farm and headed back to Winchester. When they got there, Matt found her a hotel room and then left, promising to return as soon as he could. Making his way around town, Matt quickly found the information he sought and hurriedly left town.

Two days later he showed up again with another man beside him. A man who'd told Matt a story of losing the only woman he'd ever loved because he hadn't been willing to give up what he'd never really had in the first place, his freedom.

"I thought I was free, Marshal." Jeff told Matt. "But I wasn't. The only time I was really free was when I was with her. I was free to be me and free to love and…" He sighed. "I lost that when I lost her."

"You can have her back if you want her." Matt told him. "But you're going to have to work for her. She deserves that."

"I'm willing." Jeff replied and so he was. When he and Matt rode back to town, Jeff was more than ready to reclaim what he thought he'd thrown away and could never have. And when Matt left town, he was willing to do the same.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

With a sigh, Jack closed the word document and turned off his computer. The story wasn't complete and he knew there was a more he needed to add. But he was tired and there were more details he wanted to check before he wrote any more.

"I will get this out." He spoke to the spirit he could only feel. "It will take me a while, but I will get it out."

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: I think I need to clarify something on the previous chapter. I, in no way, intended to imply that Kitty and Tilly were exactly the same. Of course there were many differences along with the simularities. But the point I was trying to make, poorly I suppose, was that no matter who she was with or where she went, Kitty would not be happy with any other man besides Matt. And Matt, no matter how free, would not be truly happy or free without Kitty. Both of them were strong people and would've survived alone but their true happiness and freedom was with each other just as Tilly and Jeff's happiness and freedom depended on their being together.**

Badly as Jack wanted to get back to the story and his promise to tell it, he couldn't. His classes for that week couldn't be skipped, if he didn't want to fail, and his dad seriously needed his help on the ranch. Reluctantly, Jack put aside what he wanted to do, and did what he had to. But every spare moment he spent gathering more information and talking with Robin who was also spending what little free time she had to help him.

When the two got together a week and a half later, they had more details to add to their tale and an urgent desire to write it down.

Robin looked over Jack's shoulder as he wrote and nodded in approval. "Jack, this is going to be a wonderful story." She praised.

"Maybe." Jack shrugged. "But I don't want it to be just a wonderful story. I want it to be as close to the truth as I can get it and I want it factual. That's why all of this research was so important. I don't think this ghost would've contacted me to just tell a good story. It said it wanted the truth to be told."

"And you're doing that." Robin ran a hand through his hair and hugged him from behind. "Whoever this ghost is, he or she will be pleased with what you've written so far."

"I hope so." Jack sighed as he quit typing and turned around, pulling Robin into his arms. "Next to you, that's the most important thing to me right now."

Robin grinned as she pulled his face to hers and grinned. "As long as you have your priorities straight." She said as they kissed.

Later that day, after Robin had left and he'd gone back to work, Jack again sat back and looked at what he written so far. It still wasn't complete yet but it was getting close to what the ghost really wanted everyone to know.

"Horatio?" Jack heard his father's voice calling him from the bottom of the stairs. "Coming, Dad." He called back. Closing down his computer, Jack grabbed his jacket and his hat and headed out. He'd promised his father he'd help him set some fence posts and other chores seriously needed to be done. His promise couldn't be put off for any longer.

He had a great deal more that he wanted to write but he was satisfied that he'd reached a good enough stopping point for right then.

"I'll do more when I come back." He told himself and the ever present spirit he felt in his room. "I'll see ya later."

After Jack left, his computer turned on, the screen glowing bright as the word documents came up and the first page of the second part of the story opened and scrolled to the top.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

Matt wasted little time in returning to Dodge. He'd thought long and hard about Tilly and Jeff and the similarities of their situation to his own. Though the situations weren't exactly the same, he did see correlations. He too had fought marriage. Not just because of his badge and the danger to anyone he married but because he thought he was ensuring his continued freedom to live the life he loved.

But he kept remembering Jeff's words. "I thought I was free, Marshal. But I wasn't. The only time I was really free was when I was with her. I was free to be me and free to love and… I lost that when I lost her."

Matt realized that unless he personally made some changes, he would feel like Jeff. He would be free and yet tied down to a way of life that offered him nothing but pain and eventually a violent end. By the time he reached the edge of town, Matt already had those changes planned.

As soon as he dropped his horse off at the stable, Matt quickly went down to the jail. No one was there which suited him just fine. Quickly opening the safe, Matt pulled a couple of items from it and then locked it back up. After that, Matt then headed to his room where he cleaned up and changed clothes.

When he walked into the Long Branch, Kitty was thrilled to see him and to see that he was unhurt. But she noticed something different about the way he carried himself when he entered.

"Matt!" She smiled warmly and happily. "How was your trip? Did you find the men you went after?"

"Yeah, I sure did." Matt answered.

"They over in the jail?"

"That's a long story, Kitty." Matt answered. "Uh, could I talk to you in your office?"

"Sure." She answered, wondering about his demeanor. Leading him to the back, she walked to her desk and waited for him to close the door and tell her what it was on his mind. But he did something else instead.

After closing and locking the door, Matt walked over and pulled her into his arms, laying claim to what he considered his, putting all the love and longing he felt into the gesture. When their lips parted he pulled back just far enough to see her face.

"Wow." She smiled. "That was quite a kiss. What's the special occasion?"

"You." Matt answered simply. "I've thought about nothing but doing that since I left town."

Kitty smiled and reached up, kissing him again. "I have too. But I have a feeling there's more, isn't there?"

Matt nodded. "I found those two men, Kitty. They were dead, shot by a farmer for no more reason than the fact that he wanted their horses. But he didn't get them. He got a bullet from one of the men and I buried all three when I got there."

"Oh, that's awful, Matt." Kitty shook her head.

"Yes, it was in a way, but something good came out of it. Two somethings as a matter of fact." He smiled.

"What do you mean?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"That farmer had a wife, Kitty." Matt settled himself on the edge of her desk and told her everything that had transpired. When he finished, he stood, took her hand and pulled her up to him. "I saw myself in that cowboy, Kitty. I realized that I've never really been free except when I was with you."

Kitty grinned. "I've been trying to tell you that for some time, Matt."

"I know." Matt sighed. "But it wasn't until I saw the fates of both of them that it sank in. She wasn't in any better shape than he was. She might've gotten married, but she wasn't married to the right man and she was miserable."

"I would be too." Kitty told him. "I don't think anyone could be happy in a situation like that."

"They can't." Matt got up off the desk and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small velvet bag and opening it. Reaching in, he pulled out a simple gold band and extended it to her. "It's not much, but it's all I could afford."

Kitty took the ring with a frown, not understanding why he was giving it to her. "Matt, I don't…"

"Marry me, Kitty." Matt said quickly. "Please."

Kitty sat in stunned silence. She didn't expect such a turn in Matt's feelings towards marriage and a family. Finally, swallowing hard, she looked up at him. "Are you serious?"

"I've never been more serious. I want to marry you and what's more, I plan on quitting my job. I've been a Marshal long enough that I can retire with full retirement pay before too long. It still won't be much, but I'll get a job and make it up. That is, if you'll have me."

Matt's answer came in the form of Kitty jumping to her feet and throwing herself into his arms. "Yes, oh, yes."

The wedding was held on a sunny June day with most of Dodge in attendance. Doc proudly escorted Kitty down the aisle to Matt's waiting arms while Festus stood at his side, a wide grin lighting his whiskered features. As soon as the wedding was over, the two of them embarked on a quick honeymoon to a small cabin out in the country.

Matt had sent in his retirement papers but they hadn't heard back from Washington by the time the wedding rolled around so they decided not to go too far from Dodge until his superiors did respond. When they returned to town, they settled into Kitty's rooms above the Long Branch until they could get the time to find a real home for the both of them.

Though the life of a US Marshal and a busy saloon owner was anything but normal, they did settle into a sort of routine and neither one of them had ever been happier. That was why in October, when Kitty seemed to catch some sort of bug that she couldn't quite get rid of, Matt wasted no time in taking her to see Doc, despite her protests.

The information, Doc delivered to them, was unexpected yet welcomed and further seemed to convince the two that theirs was a charmed life and they'd turned the corner away from all the bad that had happened in their past.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Dear Well Mannered Guest, thank you for the review on After the Storm and I left you a message there.**

Matt strode down the boardwalk to the jail wearing a smile in the early morning light. Kitty was two months pregnant. Words couldn't begin to describe how he felt about that. Joyful and proud and yet worried and scared half to death. If the War Department had of approved an earlier retirement for him, he would've swept her up and taken her someplace safer.

But they hadn't. In order to get his full pension, little as it would be, he had to agree to stay on until the following May, one year after he'd sent his request. He hadn't liked it, but as Dodge was a lot more peaceful now and most of the rabble that in times past had caused him so much trouble was gone, Matt and Kitty both felt it safe enough. Besides, the only doctor they trusted was right there in Dodge City and they were at peace where they were.

But that feeling of peace was about to end, for at least the lawman.

"Morning, Matthew." Festus greeted him as he entered the jail. "Shore is cold out there, ain't it?"

"Yeah, it sure is, Festus." Matt agreed as he took off his coat and hat and moved to his desk. "Feels like snow out there."

"And here it's only October." Festus shook his head. "Looks like it may jes be a long winter."

Matt nodded as he went through the envelopes on his desk. Among the packet of posters and various advisories and other official mail, Matt found a sealed envelope with nothing on the front aside from his name. Opening it up, he found a wanted poster for a man he'd killed five years ago. At first, he didn't understand why that had been sent to him, until he turned it over.

On the back of the poster, written in large block script, was a note to Matt himself. "I'm coming for you and yours."

Matt wasn't a rooky lawman and he'd been threatened more times than he could count. But this time it wasn't just him. The author of this note was threatening him and Kitty and the child she carried.

Festus turned away from making coffee and noticed Matt's face pale. "Somethin' wrong, Matthew?"

Matt looked up at his friend. "Festus, did you bring the mail in?"

"Shore did." He nodded. "Why? You spectin' somethin' what ain't come?"

"No." Matt shook his head and held out the poster and envelope to him. "Do you remember picking this up with the mail?"

Festus took what Matt handed him, looking at the front of the envelope. "Naw, that weren't in the mail. That was a laying on the floor when I come in this morning." He remembered. "I jes put it with the mail when I picked it up." He turned the poster over and noted the writing. "What does that there say?"

"It says someone's out to get me." Matt answered as he took the poster back, folded it and put it in his pocket. "Festus, I'll be back. I've got a couple of things to do."

"Alright, Matthew."

Quickly, Matt put his coat and hat back on and headed down the boardwalk to the small house that he and Kitty had rented. They planned on getting a small ranch outside of town but for the time being with his job and hers and now the coming baby, they decided it safer to stay in town.

Reaching the tiny home with the wraparound porch, Matt quickly unlocked the front door and hurried to the bedroom where Kitty was still in bed asleep. His heart beat furiously until he saw that she was safe and unharmed.

"Matt?" Kitty heard him come in and woke to see him standing at the foot of the bed, looking strangely at her. "What's wrong?"

Matt considered telling her but only for a second. He couldn't bring himself to shatter the peace and sense of safety she now felt with little more than that poster. He planned on checking some things out first. Crossing to the side of the bed, he sat down beside her and leaned over, kissing her.

"Nothing's wrong, Kitty. I just had to come back to the house to pick something up and thought I'd just check on you."

Fogged with sleep, Kitty smiled, accepting his answer. "I'm fine, cowboy."

Matt kissed her again and then rose. "Good. Go back to sleep honey. I'll come back later. Maybe we can have dinner together."

"Sounds good." She mumbled as she drifted back off to sleep.

Feeling foolish for his panic, Matt still made a quick check of the house to make sure it was empty of all but he and Kitty and that the doors and windows were all secured. When he left, he locked the door behind him and headed back to the center of town. The telegraph office had just opened and Matt quickly entered, startling Barney, the operator.

"Good morning, Marshal." He gave him a curious look. "Something I can do for you?"

"Yeah, Barney." He nodded. "I need you to send some wires."

After sending wires to several people, asking for information on the dead man, Matt quickly went back to the jail, hoping Festus was still there. He caught him just as he was leaving.

"Festus," he smiled, relieved he'd caught him. "You got anything planned for the next few hours?"

Festus shook his head. "I was fixin' on going and getting me some breakfast, but I ain't got nothin' planned for after that. Why?"

"I need someone to go over to my house and keep an eye on it and Kitty." Matt answered.

"Something wrong, is there?" Festus knew Matt wouldn't ask unless he was worried about something.

"I don't know." Matt answered with a sigh. "I got this poster with a note on the back saying they were coming after me and mine. But I don't know who wrote it or when or even if it's a real threat. Somebody could be playing a mean joke on me."

"But ya don't think so, do ya?"

Matt shook his head. "No, Festus, I don't."

Festus nodded. "I'll go straight on over there, Matthew."

"What about your breakfast?" Matt asked.

"I don't reckon I'm none too hungry now, Matthew." He answered as he opened the door and headed out. "See ya directly."

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

A week later, Matt sat at his desk, once again going over the replies he'd received on the wires he sent. The man on the poster, Billy Skidmore, had a large family down in Texas, he now knew, as well as many friends. Most of them were in ranching, but there were several that, like Billy, found it easier to make a living on the wrong side of the law.

Though most of Skidmore's relatives and friends were either in Texas, prison or dead, there were a few that no one knew where they were. And it's those that worried the lawman.

Thinking back 3 years, he remembered the shootout that ended in Billy's death. Billy and a partner, Fred Williams, had tried to rob the freight office late one night. Matt had caught them as they came out of the back door and ordered them to lay their guns down and give up. Neither man did, resulting in a shootout which left Billy dead and his partner wounded but not seriously.

There hadn't been any witnesses to the events. Due to the location, no one arrived until after the gun smoke cleared. But no one doubted Matt's word of what had happened, no one but Fred Williams. He had been wounded right off and hadn't seen Billy dart out into the street, firing as he did. And neither he, nor anyone else saw Matt, wounded himself, firing back in self defense, killing Billy just before Billy fired again, hitting Matt a second time.

With Matt down, Newly and Festus took over law enforcement in the town. Newly filled out the reports, listing Billy's death as killed in the act of robbery and totally justified. Though only the end of the shootout was witnessed, the townspeople had no doubts of Matt's veracity and that nothing untoward had happened.

But Fred Williams stated loudly, to anyone that would listen, that he and Billy had merely been in that alley sleeping off a drunk and that Matt had shot them both in cold blood. No one in Dodge paid him any heed. None of Matt's superiors believed him. But Billy Skidmore's family and friends did.

Right after Williams was sentenced to prison a man rode into town and called Matt out. His name was Durham and he was a professional gunslinger rumored to be faster than anyone, even Matt. But it was only a rumor as it turned out and Matt easily outdrew the other and Durham now resided in Boot Hill next to Billy Skidmore.

After Durham, Matt expected more attempts, but none were forthcoming. There were of course, other men and even a couple of women who showed up, wanting revenge for one thing or another but none of them had anything to do with Billy. Matt had pretty much put the whole thing out of mind.

But now with the poster and the threat written plainly on its back, Matt's concern over the matter had turned to something close to fear. Not so much for himself, of course, but for his wife and his unborn child. Pulling in Festus, Newly and Sam as well as several other men around town that he trusted, he made sure that Kitty would have complete protection when he wasn't there to see to it himself.

Matt didn't want a confrontation with a vengeful gunman, but one should show up, he felt ready.

But none showed up, at least not right away. It was a full month and close to Thanksgiving when it happened. Matt was striding down the boardwalk, headed to the Long Branch to pick up Kitty for dinner. With the advent of pregnancy, she had decided to sell the business that had been her home for so long, but until she did, she was still running it.

He was just in front of Doc's stairs when a shot was fired, narrowly missing him, embedding itself in the stair railing. Instantly, Matt's gun snapped into his hand as he ducked down and scanned the street and what he could see of the alleys. Nothing. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Matthew?" Festus, hearing the shot, had ran from the livery stable down to where Matt was just getting back up, gun still out and held at the ready. "What happened?" He saw the expression on Matt's face and it worried him.

"Someone took a shot at me." Matt answered. "You see anything?"

"Naw." Festus shook his head as Newly and several others came running down to where they were. "Anybody see anythin'?"

As the surrounding citizens shook their head, another shot was heard, only this one came from within the Long Branch. Matt paled as he pushed past the people around him and rushed towards the saloon hearing another shot as he entered.

Sam was standing straight and still behind the bar, shotgun in hand, pointing the weapon at a man kneeling on the floor beside another man, who was lying motionless. Kitty was sitting at a table near the bar, a towel pressed tightly against her arm.

"Sam? What happened?" He asked as he rushed to Kitty's side. "Kitty?"

"I'm alright, Matt." Kitty said with a grimace as he bent over her.

"What happened?" Matt asked again as Sam moved over to them.

"That man tried to kill me." Kitty nodded at the dead man. "Sam shot him and stopped that other one when he pulled his gun."

"How'd he get close enough to shoot you?" Matt angrily demanded looking over at Sam with a glare.

"I'm sorry, Marshal." Sam's tone was beyond regretful. "It was busy and…"

"Busy?" Matt seethed. "That's no excuse. She could've been killed. She…"

"Matt, enough." Kitty's voice was stern. "This was not Sam's fault. He couldn't serve drinks and hold a shotgun at the same time. If it wasn't for him, the other man would've succeeded where his friend didn't. Sam saved me, Matt."

Matt stopped and took a deep breath, looking down at the dead man and his friend, who Festus was now prodding to his feet while Newly saw to getting the dead man carried out. Marching over to the prisoner, Matt furiously grabbed him by his jacket lapels. "Alright you! Talk! Who sent you?"

The man showed no fear of Matt. Calmly he stared back at Matt with a slight grin. "I don't know what you're talking about." He answered. "I didn't do anything. I saw that feller there a shooting at the lady and I pulled my gun to defend her."

Matt didn't believe him and glancing over at Sam and Kitty, he could tell that is not what they saw. Returning his eyes to the shaggy blonde headed man in front of him, Matt pulled back his fist and hit him squarely on the jaw before he could control himself. "Festus get him over to the jail before I kill him." He said in a low growl.

Doc had made it in the saloon while Matt was dealing with the stranger. Skirting around the obviously dead man, he went straight to Kitty's side and was gently examining her arm.

"Doc?" Matt asked when he turned to see Doc rewrapping her arm with a towel.

"She'll be fine, Matt." Doc assured him. "I'm going to have to put a few stitches in that arm but she'll be fine. Help me get her to my office."

Seeing that Festus was already taking the half senseless cowboy to the jail, Matt bent down and picked Kitty up, swiftly carrying her out of the saloon and to the stairs climbing up to the office above. Kitty offered no protest, knowing none would be heeded. She merely laid her head on his shoulder, crossed her good arm around his neck and reveled in his embrace.

Later that night, Matt stood up from the bedside of his sleeping wife. Matt left Doc's office after telling the physician to keep the door locked, a gun handy and watch over her.

"Where are you going?" Doc asked with a worried scrub of his mustache.

"I'll be back." Was Matt's only answer.

Later that night, Matt showed back up at Doc's office. He knuckles and chin were bruised and the way he was holding his side, Doc had no doubts he'd been hit there. But as Matt was standing, Doc knew who'd won the fight.

"You think they'll quit now that you've beat that man senseless and scared him away?"

"Nope." Matt answered. "But I can promise you, that man won't ever bother us again."

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: I have been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off (Sorry for the imagery but it's the only thing that fits) and have not had time to reply to each review left. For that I apologize. I will try to do better. But I do want you to know for now that I have received each one and I thank each of you for the comments.**

Robin sat back in her chair with a sigh and a troubled look. "Jack do you really think Marshal Dillon beat that man?"

"I don't know, really." Jack shrugged. "That's why I wrote it that way. I just know that from the records I was able to find as well as some of the archived news papers and all, that man was never seen in Dodge again and there's no record even of his arrest or any trial. Doc's journal only mentions that Marshal Dillon appeared in his office late the same evening as his wife was wounded with injuries equal to someone who'd been in a fight."

"That still doesn't prove anything." Robin pointed out. "I mean, there's not too much info on that attack at all. If it hadn't of been for that newspaper article about Kitty getting shot in the arm as well as those snippets of diary from that saloon girl that I found online, we might not have known about that man."

"True. And true that the Marshal's injuries could've been obtained in some other way. I admit I don't know for a fact."

Robin sighed. "Well, since we don't really know, then I refuse to believe that the marshal did anymore than threaten him and order him out of town. If you'll remember, we found one account after another where he ordered people out of town and I bet he did just that with this guy."

Jack chuckled at her upturned chin and stubborn belief in a man they'd only read about. "Well, for the record, I do believe he fought him. But I don't think he beat him to death, though I wouldn't doubt that he at least scared the wits out of him." He answered.

"So, what's next?" Robin asked. "I mean, I know this isn't the end of the story."

"No, no, it's not." Jack agreed from his perch on his bed. "I've already got enough information for most of the rest of the story, but I can't help but feel that there's more."

"More what?" Robin asked. "I mean we know what happens to both Marshal Dillon and…"

"Yeah, we do." Jack nodded. "But I still think there's more. I mean, so far, the information we've found was easily obtained."

"Easily obtained?" Robin arched an auburn brow. "I don't think running from a security guard and risking jail for those pictures we took of that book was very easy. And what about the other two books you have. I mean, true, we didn't have to risk anything for them but we certainly didn't get them the usual way. And all the hours we spent on the computer and…"

"Alright, alright," Jack conceded. "Poor choice of words. What I meant was that nothing we have, except for the info from those books, is something that anyone else couldn't have obtained. And even the info in those books is no real secret. I just can't believe that whoever the ghost is did all this for just what we have. He or she has to have some reason for wanting this information to come out and to come out now. And some reason for picking me to tell it."

"I'm sure it did." Robin agreed getting up from her chair and going over to stand beside him. "He or she wanted someone who could actually hear him and would actually listen without freaking out and it wanted someone who would actually write the story. Now, I doubt there are too many people out there like that. The ghost probably waited til now to tell the story because it was waiting for you."

"Maybe." Jack shrugged. "But I don't think so. I think there's something more to all of this. "I mean, when I get this written, it'll be a good story about people from Dodge City's history, but it won't exactly be ground breaking or anything. And thank you for making me sound so valuable but we both know there have probably been other people over the years that could sense spirits the way I do. It could've contacted one of them."

"Well, that's true." Robin conceded. "But it didn't. It contacted you and it needs you to write it. So why don't you finish writing this story and if there's anything more it wants you to find out, like whom he or she might be, then maybe he or she will tell you when you get done."

Jack grinned as he reached up and grabbed Robin's hand, pulling her into his lap. "Alright, I will finish writing what I know. But I will do it later."

"Why not now?" Robin asked.

"Because right now, I'm kissing my girl." He wiggled an eye brow at her suggestively.

Later that night, long after Robin had left, Jack got up from his desk and closed down his computer. He'd written all that he could with the information he had. If there was more to be told, the ghost would have to tell it.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: SusyQ, hahahaha.**

A month went by after the attempts on Matt Dillon and his wife Kitty. Kitty's wounded arm healed nicely and she was back in her office working on the books the next day, much to Matt's dismay. He wanted her to stay home or at least in her former rooms above the saloon. But she stubbornly refused pointing out that until the saloon sold, she was the owner/operator of said business and it was her responsibility to see to it instead of cowering in a room somewhere.

Matt grudgingly relented, knowing once she set her mind to something, he couldn't change it. Still, he didn't relax his vigil. There was too much at stake for that. Though no one else showed up in Dodge intent on doing him or Kitty harm, he took no chances and continued to make sure she was constantly protected.

Things did ease some, though and that had a lot to do with the weather. Christmas day ushered in the beginning of a blizzard that lasted for two days. Almost nothing and no one moved down front street unless absolutely necessary and Matt found himself with little to do in the way of law enforcement. Seldom one for sitting around and doing nothing, Matt normally would've been restless with nothing much to do.

But he found himself taking a certain amount of delight in watching the changes in his wife's form as she progressed in her pregnancy and her stomach began to protrude and gently round with the child inside of her. He loved to watch her face light up at the slightest bit of pleasure and quite often he looked for ways to provide that pleasure even when it was only to the extent of rubbing her feet at night or a soft kiss to the temple in public, or in the middle of the day for no reason.

When the weather warmed a little and the snow began to retreat some, people began to once again traverse the streets of Dodge and attend to business left undone during the blizzard. Matt also began to cover the town and constantly looked for anyone or anything that he felt didn't belong.

He found nothing but he wasn't reassured. He had an idea that the same weather that slowed down the respectable citizens, also slowed down the vengeful bandits bent on killing him and his family. With the weather clearing, danger could reappear at any moment.

Yet once again, things calmed down. Two weeks went by after the blizzard and then two more. It was fast approaching the 1st of February and though he never let his guard completely down, Matt felt he could finally take a breath and enjoy the time he was able to spend with his wife, which he did at every opportunity.

February passed with only a minor snow storm which lasted about half a day but caused no real dent in the commerce of Dodge City. People bought and sold as they would any time of year.

It caused no dent in the crime either. By the end of the month, Matt had tossed no fewer than 8 men out of town for various infractions and more than that in jail for being drunk or fighting or both. And those were the less serious problems.

He had caught two men, who had tried to rob the general store, just as they ran to their horses to escape and after a brief but intense firefight, buried one, sent the other one to Hays for trial and spent a day and a night at Doc's office with a graze from a bullet to his side.

But despite all that, Matt considered the month of February to be have been fairly peaceful. Kitty's pregnancy was advancing normally and despite Doc's worries, she had very few problems, other than the occasional morning sickness. Now at 7 months along, she complained of being fat, but Matt thought she never looked more beautiful and took every opportunity to tell her so.

As February came to a close and March approached, Matt settled into a routine, as much as he could in a job that held no promise of such. Though the threat against him and Kitty hadn't been forgotten; it was increasingly pushed further back in to the recesses where it couldn't bother him or upset his wife.

The middle of March brought forth the second blizzard of the winter and by all accounts it was worse than the first. The telegraph line went down and the main roads were so blocked that the stages couldn't get through.

The train made it, a day late, having to plow through heavy snow on the tracks but it only brought more headaches as the snow further west was deeper and it couldn't go any further until the railroad sent someone out to clear the tracks. That meant all of the people on board, had to stay in town for a few days wherever they could get a room.

Matt and Kitty hosted a young woman and her baby, traveling to Denver to meet up with her husband. Ma Smalley's boarding house was full to the rafters as was the hotel and any place else where a haven from the cold could be found.

With so many people in town, Matt and Festus and Newly worked overtime to patrol the streets and businesses, keeping an eye on the many strangers that had invaded the streets of Dodge.

Over Kitty's objections, Matt moved her back to a room on the ground floor of the Long Branch until things settled down. Having sold the saloon to a woman named Hannah; she was now at their house full time which worried him. By this time, she was a little over 8 months pregnant and he wanted her closer than their house on the edge of town in case she should need him or Doc. Besides, with so many people in town, he didn't want her in the house alone.

Hannah was more than accommodating and even offered to let Kitty stay in her old rooms. Kitty declined that but did finally agree to stay in the small room usually used for stock for the duration. She didn't want Matt worrying about her, she told Hannah, when he already had so many others to be concerned about.

She didn't know though about the poster Matt had gotten months before. And she didn't know that danger was lurking just around the corner for both her and Matt and their child.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: This chapter is solely for LadyKRedzz. Safe travels my friend.**

Two weeks into March and the Dillon's were in fine spirits. Kitty was just a few weeks away from delivering their child and though increasingly tired and, as she put it, huge, she was happy and more than ready to meet the new little person that was soon to be.

Matt was ready as well. But he was also more scared than he ever thought he would be. The child that Kitty would soon be bringing into this world was going to be the biggest responsibility he'd ever had. It would be their legacy and their future. He was determined that no matter what came their way, he would protect Kitty and their child with all he had.

As those last two weeks of March played out, Matt seemed to be everywhere at once. With only a couple of months left of his job, he was trying to clean up any paperwork or loose ends that might be there. He was also trying to prepare the townspeople for his departure as well as his friend and deputy, Festus Haggen.

Of course, in the middle of that he was doing his best to find a place for he and Kitty to buy. Mr. Bodkin had shown him three places not too far out of town that were of a decent size and condition but none of them felt right to him. Telling Bodkin he needed to talk with Kitty first, Matt returned to town each time empty handed.

But as he and Kitty didn't plan on moving out of town until the baby was at least a couple of months old, Matt felt he had time. Besides, he really did want Kitty's input into the decision. It was going to be her home too.

Despite the hassles, though, Matt was content. The snow was melting and the weather warming and it seemed to have a wonderful effect on the town. Crime was down and business was up. Things were running as well for him as they possible could. He couldn't think of anything that could dim his happiness during this period of his life.

Until the afternoon he walked into the jail to find another poster lying on the floor, obviously having been pushed under the door. It was a duplicate of the last one and though it had no warning on the back this time, it didn't need it. With chills running up and down his spine, Matt quickly reversed direction and practically ran down to the saloon.

"She's not here, Matt." Hannah shook her head when he stormed to the bar, having checked their room first. "She was going stir crazy around here and said she wanted to get out and walk around town. Of course, I suspect she actually wanted to go down to the general store and see what new material he's got in."

"Thanks." Matt threw over his shoulder as he raced out of the saloon and over to the store.

But Kitty wasn't there, hadn't been there that day. The dress shop and millenary was just down the street and Matt hurriedly ran to each of those places but Kitty wasn't there either. Karen at the millenary saw her walking past perhaps a couple of hours earlier but she didn't see where she'd gone to.

Thinking of the many places she could've gone to, Matt quickly weeded out the ones that were too far to walk to or too hard to get to, which included Doc's office. But that left only the places he'd already checked. Realizing he'd have to broaden his search, Matt started back towards the jail when he saw Festus just across the street.

"Festus!" He yelled as he hurried across to him.

With just a brief conversation between the two, a search party was organized. Just about every store and house in town had either been searched or at least looked into. Most of the citizens of Dodge were questioned but there was no sign of Kitty Dillon and no word received from her.

"Matt!" Doc had come back into town, after visiting a family outside of town, to find that Kitty was missing a full scale search was underway for her. "You find anything?" He asked anxiously when he reached his side.

"Just this." Matt answered as he handed the hated poster to the physician. "I know someone from Skidmore's clan took her but I have no idea of where they took her."

Doc took a scrub of his mustache as he handed him back the poster. "I'm sure you checked everyplace in town?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah. Festus and Newly and I each headed up search parties and we've pretty much scoured the town and everyplace within easy riding distance. But there's been very few who could even say they saw her today and none who've seen her within the last few hours." Matt swallowed hard, trying to rein in his fear before he drowned in it. "I don't know where to look next. Doc, if they… if she…"

"I know, Matt." Doc nodded. He felt the same way. Kitty was the closest thing to a daughter that any man ever had and he grieved at the thought of anything happening to her, especially now. "I know how you feel but…"

"Matthew!" Just then Festus yelled, interrupting Doc. "Matthew, you'd bes take a peek at this."

Matt watched while Festus, with Newly right behind, skidded to a stop in front of him and extended a note with his name on it.

"I found this here tacked to the jail house door." Festus told him.

"It doesn't look good, Marshal." Newly grimly contributed. "You were right, they have her."

Matt quickly read the note, growing paler by the word.

"You're not going to do it, are you, Marshal?" Newly asked worriedly. "You know what they want."

"Yeah." Matt nodded as he handed the note to Doc to read. "I know what they want, but I don't have any choice. I have to go."

"But you ain't comin' out, if you go in there your ownself, Matthew." Festus argued. "They's just a waiting to kill you."

"I know." Matt nodded as a plan formed. "But they've not done it yet and if you three will help me, they might not, at least not until I get Kitty out of there safe."

"You know we'll do whatever we can." Doc answered for them all as he handed Matt the note back. "What do you want us to do."

"Come with me." Matt told them as he started for the stables. "I'll tell you on the way."

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

Jack sat back and read over the last part of what he'd written, satisfied that he'd retold the story as accurately as his research had allowed. There was more that he needed to write and he planned on doing that as soon as he got another cup of coffee and a snack of sorts. But for the most part, he was coming close to the end of things.

Scrubbing his head, he stretched and got up from his desk and headed downstairs to the kitchen. As he poured his coffee and scoured the refrigerator for something edible he thought about all that he'd learned so far and all the questions he still had.

The ghost, whose earthly existence was still a mystery to him, had led him on this journey and given him this mad drive to write a story about people in Dodge City's history. But the ghost still hadn't told him why. Part of what he was writing, was already well known.

Anyone who'd studied Dodge's storied past, knew that Marshal Dillon and Kitty Russell had married after 20 years together. And it was no secret that they conceived a child together or that Kitty was taken hostage by a family bent on revenge. What he had written so far was hardly groundbreaking news.

What he was about to write, he knew, though not a state secret, hadn't been widely advertised and it was probably safe to say that most people didn't know anything about it. But it was still not a complete mystery. There had been rumors about it. Even his grandmother had heard them. Why reveal this information now?

"Getting ya something to eat?"

Jack turned to see his grandmother's warm blue eyes clouded with concern. "You've not been eating right, boy." She shook her head as she saw the cup of coffee, piece of cake and bag of potato chips he'd pulled for his meal.

"It's just a snack." Jack shrugged.

"You didn't come down for supper." She pointed out as she went to the icebox and started pulling out items to make him a proper meal. "You still working on that story of yours?"

"Yeah," Jack nodded as he moved his cake over to the kitchen table and sat down. "I'm getting pretty close to the end of it but I'm still not sure about things."

"What do you mean?" His grandmother asked as she moved the cake away from him with an arched brow. "That's not healthy for ya."

Jack grinned and settled for a sip of his coffee while his grandmother quickly put together the makings for an omelet. "I just have this feeling that there's still something more to all of this." He explained. "Like the ghost, whoever he is, wants me to know something more than what I already know."

"Like what?" She asked as she flipped the omelet on a plate and set it before him. "From what you've told me, you've already found out just about everything there is to find out. You know the Marshal and his lady married and that…"

"I know." Jack interrupted. "I do. But I just can't help but think that there's something I don't know. Something that's more important than what I do know."

Esther sat down at the table across from him with a sigh, folding her hands on the table top. "Well, I don't know all that you do about it and I haven't read your latest bit but I will if you want me to. Maybe I can see something you don't."

"Would you?" Jack brightened. His grandmother, though aged, was still as sharp as a tack in so many ways and could quite often out think just about everyone around her.

"You eat you're supper, boy." She patted his hand as she got to her feet. "I'll get my spectacles and meet you up in your room."

Happily, Jack dug into his meal, finishing it off quickly, realizing as he did how hungry he really had been. Refilling his coffee cup, he quickly headed back upstairs reaching his room just as Esther got there.

"Come on in, Grandma." He opened the door for her. "I'll let you read the last bit that I've written while I finish up with what I have. Maybe then you can find something."

"Might could be." She answered as she perched herself on the edge of his bed, took the papers he handed her and began to read.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Warning: The next two chapters have tissue warnings.**

Matt made no effort to hide his presence as he rode down the small dirt track onto the farmstead several miles outside of Dodge. He didn't need to. The people who took Kitty were expecting him and he had no doubts they'd kill her if he failed to do exactly as they'd demanded in the note.

When he reached the small house, he reined in and sat still atop his horse for a moment watching the front of the house as well as the barn across the yard and the woods on the other side of the house. Nothing stirred, but he knew they were there. His orders were to ride in and wait. He was good at following orders when he had to, to save Kitty.

"Bout time you got here, Dillon." A voice spoke from behind him. "Drop your gun, get off that horse and turn around."

Matt did as requested and turned around to see something he didn't think possible. Billy Skidmore, the man from the poster, the man he was positive he'd killed, was standing there, gun drawn and pointed straight at his heart. "You…" He swallowed hard. "You're de…"

"Nope." The man shook his head. "I'm not dead and I'm not Billy. My names, Blake Skidmore. Billy's my twin brother and he's still just as dead as he was the day you murdered him."

"I didn't…" Matt stopped. Arguing with this man wasn't going to help Kitty. "Where's my wife?" He asked instead. "You said if I came alone…"

"She's here." Skidmore answered. "And you're going to join her in a minute. But I got to do something first."

"What?" Matt asked warily.

"This." Skidmore answered as he cocked his gun and shot Matt in the shoulder, spinning him around to fall in the dirt behind him. "Get up." Skidmore demanded a second later. "Get back up."

Gripping his shoulder tightly, Matt managed to get back to his feet and stay standing, despite the dizziness and pain that was assailing him. "Now can I see my wife?" His tone was sarcastic. He refused to allow this man to see how much he was hurting.

Skidmore laughed. "I heard you were tough. I wonder just how tough." Aiming his gun again, he looked about ready to fire again but stopped. "Un, huh." He shook his head as he lowered his gun slightly. "Not yet. Your woman's in the barn. Move."

Matt took a deep breath and forced his legs to work as he headed to the barn. As soon as he walked in, he stopped, stunned and scared. Kitty was there, sitting on a bale of hay, tied hand and foot to a pole with a gag in her mouth. He could see by the light of the lantern beside her that her face was bruised and her clothes torn.

"Kitty." He gasped as he moved to her side. "Hang on, Honey. I'll get you…" He didn't finish as another shot rang out and he felt a white hot burning pain in his left leg, forcing him forward, to fall at her feet.

Kitty screamed through the gag and struggled against the ropes that held her in place. But she was unable to do much more than watch as Skidmore walked further into the barn; a wide grin on his face. He still had his gun out and pointed at Matt.

"I promised Billy I'd take care of you, Marshal." He cocked his gun. "I told him I'd make you hurt. That little bit of pain you're feeling right now ain't nothing compared to what you're about to feel."

Matt got to get to his knees and turned back around just as Skidmore aimed squarely at Kitty's head and pulled the trigger.

With a roar, Matt threw himself forward, landing heavily against Skidmore and knocking him backward just as he fired. Instead of hitting Kitty in the head, it hit her in the chest. Despite his own injuries, Matt managed to pull back his fist and punch Skidmore then reach for the gun in his hand.

But Skidmore had plenty of fight in him and he wasn't wounded, as Matt was. With a mighty shove, he pushed Matt back far enough to bring the gun in between them. Matt brought his good arm up and gripped the hand that held the gun, fighting desperately for control. Blake managed to get one more shot off, hitting Matt in the chest. But despite his wounds, Matt was more determined and desperate. Grappling for the gun, Matt managed to turn the gun away as Skidmore again squeezed the trigger.

The bullet hit the lamp sitting atop a small keg of gunpowder. The shattered lantern fell and caught the surrounding hay on fire, which in turn began to lap at the sides of the keg of gunpowder. Matt knew what was about to happen and increased his efforts to gain control of the gun. Pulling his head back, he butted the other man in the face and finally got the gun, still in Skidmore's hands, turned so that when Skidmore squeezed the trigger for the last time, he shot himself.

Matt's strength was gone and his shoulder was getting numb as was his leg, but he pushed past his injuries and pain and stumbled over to Kitty. The fire was roaring now and he knew it wouldn't be long before the gunpowder was set off and the barn collapsed around them. Swiftly as he could, he untied his now unconscious wife and picked her up, heading for the door.

Outside of the barn, Festus and Newly were prodding three men towards the house. Matt had suspected that there would be more than one and he'd been right. With the main focus being on Matt, they hadn't seen the two deputies making their way in slowly to surround them. Matt, worried about Kitty and the baby had stationed Doc just at the edge of the ranch, to wait for a signal to come in.

Festus managed to get two of the bandits and Newly a third. Together they got a fourth and after disarming them and tying their hands, pushed them to walk down into the farmyard from the many places they'd been hiding in. They had just got them near the house when they heard a shot coming from the barn.

"Newly, I'm going in." Festus yelled as he started towards the old building.

Newly, with his eyes on Festus and the barn, didn't see one of the men lunge for him until he was suddenly there, knocking him over. With a grunt, Newly went down which caught Festus' attention. Scowling, Festus quickly returned to Newly's side and helped him corral the bandit. That done, he started again for the barn just as another shot was heard.

"Matthew!" He yelled as turned again towards the barn. But he wasn't even close when the doors of the barn blew backwards and flew off the hinges with a blast of fire and smoke, knocking him off his feet. Scrambling back up, Festus once more started towards the now burning building, getting to the entrance just as Matt staggered out, Kitty in his arms.

Two steps outside of the barn and Matt began to fall. Festus barely made it to his side and caught both he and Kitty gently helping them to the ground.

"Matt... Matthew?" Festus swallowed hard seeing the grievous wounds on both of his friends.

"Skid... Skidmore's dead." Matt grimaced as he tried to get up, knowing he couldn't. "Won't... hurt... us... again."

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Just to let you all know; this chapter was extremely hard for me to write and edit. Frankly, I don't like it but it was important to this story. You will probably need some tissues. I've already used a box and a half. And Broncomap, I wish I could've worked your idea into this but it would'nt have worked for the plot.**

"Doc." Festus stood quietly at the physician's side looking down on the two people that he so dearly loved. "Do ya think…"

"I… I don't know… Festus." Doc took a scrub of his mustache. "I've done all I can but… well… I just... I doubt it but I just don't know."

Festus nodded sadly and moved away, going over into the corner and looking at the tiny cherub that lay contentedly in a makeshift crib made out of a box.

Per Matthew's plan, Doc was waiting just at the end of the dirt track that led down to the farm house. Upon hearing gunshots and then seeing smoke coming from the farm, Doc raced madly down the lane towards the homestead. When he got there, he found both Matt and Kitty lying on the ground grievously wounded.

With Festus and Newly's help, he got them both carried into the old farm house and laid on pallets on the bare floor. He'd had a suspicion, as had Matt, that he'd need to tend to wounds there and so had come prepared with blankets and bandages and medicine. But he hadn't come prepared for this. He hadn't come prepared for this at all.

Matt's wounds were horrible. The bullet in his shoulder had fairly destroyed it. And the one in his leg had caused so much damage, Doc wasn't sure where to begin. He was almost certain that if Matt lived, he'd probably never walk again. But looking at the third wound in his chest, Doc didn't think it possible that Matt would have that problem to worry about.

However, as Newly, Festus and a couple of the conscripted bandits laid him down on the floor, next to Kitty, Matt had been awake and insisted that Doc not begin with him.

"Take… care… Kit… ty." He insisted.

Looking at the still unconscious woman, Doc had to agree. The wound in her chest was just as serious but there was also the unborn baby to be concerned with. Carefully listening with his stethoscope, Doc discerned that the child was still alive but he knew if he didn't do something soon, that fact would change.

With Newly's help, Doc swiftly operated, delivering by caesarean a slightly premature but perfectly healthy little boy. Working as quickly as he could, Doc sewed up the incision and then began to work on her chest wound, removing the bullet and sewing that up as well. But though he didn't want to admit it, deep down, he was sure his efforts were in vain.

Once he'd done all he could for her, Doc turned his attention to Matt. As with Kitty, he and Newly worked feverishly to tend to his wounds, but he doubted that he'd managed to do more than extend his life by a few hours.

After helping Doc with the patients, Newly had rounded up the prisoners, and with Festus' help, tied them on their horses and took them back to town. Festus had returned quickly there after, leaving Newly to stand guard over the murderous bunch. They both knew that Newly's medical skills would probably no longer be needed out at the farm.

"I bes be a gettin' some of that milk I brung from town for this youngin'." Festus told Doc. He wasn't sure what else to do. Doc hadn't said in so many words, but he wasn't stupid. He understood that both Matthew and Kitty Dillon would most likely die and they were simply waiting with their friends for that time.

Doc nodded but didn't reply as he once again carefully checked each of his patients over. They were weakening and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. He'd just removed the stethoscope from Matt's chest when the big man's eyes opened and he looked up at Doc.

"We're…" He licked his lips and tried again. "We're dying." It wasn't a question but he got his answer from Doc's solemn stare. "The... baby?"

"He's fine." Doc offered him a sad smile. "He's healthy and... just fine."

Matt nodded slightly and looked over at Kitty, lying so still beside him. "He's the... best... of us, Doc." Matt's voice reflected his pain and weakness but he had to talk to Doc before it was too late. "I… I don't know if... there's more… Skidmores or not. But… but there… will be others. You… you've got to protect... our son, Doc."

"I will, Matt." Doc said, ignoring the tears that were forming. "I promise you that."

"No… no one can... know that… that's he ours." He looked up to Doc with such sadness in his eyes that it fair took Doc's breath away. "He… he can't be a Dillon. You… under… stand?"

Doc did and it perturbed him. "But, Matt, he deserves to know who his parents are. You and Kitty are the finest… he… he deserves to know."

With effort, Matt reached up and pulled on the badge still attached to his shirt, finally managing to free it from the cloth. Weakly reaching out, he handed it to Doc. "He will." Matt nodded. "When it's time, give… give him... that."

The sound of Matt's voice stirred Kitty and she slowly opened her eyes, watching as Matt placed his badge in Doc's hand. Swallowing hard, she looked across to her husband, understanding him as always, without words. Slowly bringing her hand up, she placed it over Matt's as his engulfed Doc's. "He'll… know." She sighed as she turned her head to see Festus holding a tiny infant in his arms.

"Fes.. Festus." She held out her arm indicating she wanted her child.

Quickly, Festus sat the bottle down, got to his feet and brought the baby to his mother, gently placing it in her arms. "He's a mite small, Miss Kitty." He tearfully smiled. "But he's all there."

Kitty kissed the baby on the forehead and used what little strength she had to cradle her son with one arm as she reached over with her other and again took Matt's hand. "Take care... of us." She said as she looked up at the man she considered to be her father and the one close as a brother.

"Take… care... I love... you two, ya know. I..." Her words faltered as did her sight. Her grip on the child, her husband and the world failed and she slipped out of the world with a sigh.

Matt knew she was gone and a tear rolled down as his face as he gripped her hand tightly for a moment longer. "See to it?" He looked up at Doc.

The old man couldn't speak. His voice failed him as he nodded.

Matt looked at Festus. "Hel… help him, friend."

"I shorely will, Matthew." Festus choked back a sob as Matt smiled briefly before closing his eyes and joining his wife.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

The funeral was held on a bright and sunny day. It had rained the night before making the ground soft and rather soggy as the town's people gathered together in the cemetery to lay Matt and Kitty Dillon and their child to rest. But no one seemed to mind the ground or even really to notice it, so great was the outpouring of grief over two of the town's most loved citizens.

The baby, little Matthew Russell, was there, snug in the arms of the young woman who now called him her son. Amilynn and her husband Charles had just lost their little boy the day before little Matt was born. Doc could see no reason why they couldn't raise this baby as their own and allow their child to be decently buried with the Dillon's. They couldn't either.

If the baby had perhaps too blue of eyes or his hair was a touch too reddish for the brown haired young woman and with the chocolate eyes or her fair haired husband with the green eyes, no one seemed to notice. And that was just the way Doc wanted it.

When Doc realized that he wasn't going to be able to save Matt and Kitty, as he had so many times before, he knew that he had to save their son. And when Matt made it clear that the child couldn't carry his name; Doc knew what he had to do and how. Leaving his children, as he thought of them, in Festus' care, Doc had swiftly climbed into his buggy and driven out to see Charles and Amilynn and explained the situation to them.

The young couple, grief stricken at their own loss, was nevertheless thrilled at the chance to still yet be parents. Both of them immediately agreed to Doc's terms of the child's first and middle name and that they not tell a living soul who the baby actually was as well as that they let him decide when little Matthew was ready to know himself.

But Doc died of a massive heart attack just three years later, when little Matthew was still too young to understand his heritage. Festus and Newly, though they knew about little Matthew being alive and adopted, never knew who the adoptive parents were, so they weren't able to tell anyone either. Amilynn and Charles decided it best to keep his true identity a secret. The child's heritage was eventually lost to history.

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Esther sat back when she finished reading and looked over at her grandson with tears in her eyes. "You sure that's how it happened?"

Jack nodded sadly. "I am, at least as much as I can be from what information I could get from Doc's journals and the scant facts in the newspaper archives. Tell you the truth, I cried a little when I put that part together. Sad, sad way for people like them to die. They deserved better."

Esther nodded, as she wiped away the tears. "Yeah, they did. But, you can only write the facts, boy. I, uh noticed, that you don't give the last names of the couple that adopted their son."

"I know." Jack shrugged. "That's because I couldn't find it. I looked everywhere, I could think to look and I've not been able to find a trace of information about them. The three ledgers I went through don't have it listed anywhere. And since this wasn't exactly a legal adoption there aren't any official records to go through."

"Well, did you check the census from back then?" Esther was trying to find a way to help him.

"Yeah," Jack nodded. "Robin and I scoured the census reports for five years prior to when that baby was supposed to have been born and five years after and we couldn't find any couple listed at all with the first names of Amilynn and Charles."

"Well," Esther shrugged. "Those could've been aliases."

"I thought of that." Jack nodded. "So I checked the census for couples that had a baby during that time period. There were 16 and Doc Adams delivered all of them. None of the names match or the ages. There were four couples that do show a new addition to their family but they were all girls."

Esther frowned for a moment. Something was tugging at the corners of her memory but she couldn't quite figure out what. There was something about the name Amilynn that sparked recognition, but try as she might, she couldn't bring the memory forward.

"Well, Jack," she shook her head as she got up. "I don't know what to tell you, son. But what you've written here is fine and tells the real true story of what happened. Maybe somebody who reads this will recognize the names of this couple and the mystery will be solved."

"I don't plan on publishing this until I solve the mystery, Grandma." He looked up at her. "I can't tell you why, but I just have this feeling that it's my responsibility to solve this, no one else's."

"Then you will." Esther patted his arm as he passed him on the way to the door. "Don't you worry, boy. If you're meant to solve it, you will."

After his grandmother left the room, Jack sighed and sat back down at his computer. He knew nothing more to do other than more research and that was what he planned to do.

Two hours later, he heard a tap on his bedroom door. "Come in." He called without looking up.

"Jack." Esther opened the door and stuck her head in.

"Oh, hi, grandma." Jack smiled in her direction. "Something you need?"

"Nope." Esther shook her head with a smile as she entered carrying what looked like a photo album. "But there's something you need and I think I have it." Grinning happily, Esther handed the album to her grandson and then sat down beside him waiting for him to see what she had found.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

Jack took the photo album from his grandmother's hand and opened it curiously. "What's in here?" He questioned as he looked at a couple layers of pictures, cards and mementos.

"Just keep looking." Esther answered. "It's at the bottom."

Jack frowned but dug a little deeper until he saw it. Wordlessly, he plucked it from a page near the back and held it aloft. "How… I mean… where…"

"I've had it all my life." Esther answered. "It was my father's and he had it all his life. He never knew where it came from, only that it was his, left to him by his parents."

Jack's eyes widened at the admission but he shook his head negatively. "It… It can't be." He swallowed hard as he looked at the tarnished US Marshal's badge in his hand. "That… that could mean that…"

"Yes it could." Esther agreed.

"No." Jack shook his head as a thought occurred to him. "You said your grandparent's names were Lynn and Edward. The couple that adopted the Dillon's baby was Charles and Ami…" He stopped again as he looked up at her.

Esther nodded. "Ami _lynn_. When I remembered this badge, I also remembered something my grandmother told me once before she died. She said Lynn was only the last half of her first name but she didn't like her whole name so she didn't use it. I never knew what her real name was but I knew my grandfather's full name. Charles Edward Livingston."

"Oh, my… Grandma, do you know what that means?" Jack asked excitedly, staring at the piece of tin in his hand.

"I do." Esther answered. "But I also know that, that badge and my grandparent's names are no proof of anything. It could be coincidence. And remember when you checked the census? You didn't find mention of my grandparent's did you?"

Jack's smile dimmed as that information settled in on him. "No." He sighed. "I guess this could just be a coincidence then. This could've been gotten at a souvenir shop or something." Laying the badge back on the page, he closed the book. "I'm no closer than I was before."

"Not, true." Esther smiled. "There still might be a way to get the truth of all this."

"How?"

"It'll take some work." She warned. "And probably most of a day."

"I don't mind work and I have the time or I'll make it." He answered confidently.

"Then let's go." Esther turned for the door.

"Where are we going?" Jack asked curiously.

"To a place to find answers." She answered.

"Well, then, let me get my keys and jacket." Jack called after her.

"You might need a jacket, but you won't need your keys." She threw over her shoulder as she headed for the end of the hallway and then stood patiently waiting for her grandson to catch up to her.

When he did, she pointed up to the ceiling. "We're going to the attic." She answered his unasked question. "I think we just might find what we're looking for up there."

With a curious look at his grandmother, Jack opened the door to the attic stairs and stood back, allowing her to go ahead of him, turning on the attic light as they climbed.

The cavernous space above the old farmhouse was one that few people entered and few people cared to. Dusty and covered with cob webs, discarded furniture, odds and ends, boxes and crates, it wasn't anyplace the Bowers family cared to spend much time in. But it was the first place Esther thought of that might hold the answers her grandson sought.

"Alright, Grandma." Jack sighed when they reached the top of the stairs and he looked around at the many piles of Bower's discarded belongings. "Where do we start?"

Esther stood still for several moments, gray head scanning the room, trying to remember exactly where it was. Then suddenly her blue eyes lit up and she pointed to a far corner, near the window. "Over there, honey." She started moving towards it. "It's that old chest."

"I'll get it," Jack quickly stepped over a couple of bags and a pile of books to reach the large old wooden chest. "It's too heavy to lift." He shook his head, as he tried to pick it up. "Let me clear a path and we'll have to go through it here."

Esther nodded and bent to the task of helping him. "Better over here by the window anyway." She noted. "More light."

Quickly grabbing an old stool, Jack sat it down for his grandmother then seated himself in the floor by the chest and opened the lid. "There's a lot of old stuff in here." He said as he peered in the ancient trunk. "Lot of papers and stuff."

"Yes." Esther nodded, gray curls framing her face as she bent over and began pulling out books and papers. "But it'll be worth the work of going through them if what we need is in here."

Jack looked up at his father's mother. "This yours?"

Esther nodded. "Your grandfather and I didn't want a lot of clutter and such around the house, but he understood that all that I had left of my family was in that trunk, so he brought it up here and stowed it for me. It's been up here for many years and to be honest, I've forgotten a lot of what's in this chest. But if what we think is right then the proof might be in here."

"Well," Jack smiled as he reached in and took his own pile of papers. "No way to know until we start."

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Once again, I am woefully behind in thanking you all for the wonderful reviews and comments. Real life is coming down on me but I am determined to get this story finished within a reasonable amount of time.**

Jack had gone through three photo albums and a large stack of papers when he looked over to see his grandmother looking at something in a small jewel box. "What's that?" He leaned over to see an ornate cameo broach lying in a cotton-lined box.

"It's my mother's broach." Esther replied with a smile. "My father gave it to my mother when they were first married."

Never having seen that before or even hearing about it, Jack reached out and pulled the antique pin from her hand. "I didn't know you had anything like this."

He admired the simple beauty of the piece. "Why don't you have in your jewelry box with all your other stuff?" He flipped it over to examine the back.

"To be honest, I forgot about it." Esther replied with a shrug. "It was among the things I inherited from my parents when they died. I put everything of value to me in this trunk and it's all stayed here ever since." Esther looked over at her grandson to see him intently staring at the back of the pin. "What is it?"

"Have you ever looked at the back of this before?" He asked as he extended the piece back to her, face down.

"I don't know. Don't guess I have." Esther answered, accepting the broach and looking down at it. There on the back of the piece, faintly etched in a scrolling print were the words, To K from M. Esther looked back up at Jack with widened eyes. "It… it could be something that my father bought at an estate sale or something." She reasoned even though she doubted it.

"Could be." Jack nodded but he didn't believe it either as he looked back down at still half full trunk. "Or it could be that there's more in here." Exchanging looks the two reached down and pulled more documents into their laps, looking with renewed determination through each envelope and album and file.

Another half hour and Jack pulled out an envelope with his great-grandfather's name written across the front. The envelope was still sealed and the handwriting was familiar. Very familiar.

"Grandma." His voice was full of awe and trepidation. "I… I may have something here."

Esther put down the small box she'd just gone through and turned to her grandson, seeing the yellowing envelope with faded handwriting on its surface. "What is it, Jack?"

"It appears to be a letter to your dad." Jack answered as he carefully opened the still sealed envelope, removed several sheets of paper from their sheaf and unfolded them to read.

The first sheet was addressed to Matthew Russell and it was from Doctor Galen Adams, dated just months before he passed away. Jack glanced at his grandmother then began reading out loud.

 ** _"Matthew,_**

 ** _You will probably never know me, though I know you and your parents. I have spoken to Lynn and Edward about this matter and they have assured me that they would give this to you at the appropriate time. I do not know when that will be, but when you do read this, I want you to understand why certain measures were taken._**

 ** _Your parents were good people; the finest this part of the country had ever seen. But they had enemies, Matthew. Enemies that wanted to see them, and anyone they loved, killed. At the time of your birth, they as well as I, thought it best that your parent's enemies didn't know about you. It would've been dangerous, too dangerous, for you._**

 ** _Lynn and Edward are good people and they love and care about you and your well-being. But they are not your real parent's, Matthew. They lost their child at birth, just the day before you were born. Your parents died together shortly after you were born. You needed parents and Lynn and Edward needed a child. I placed you with them for all your sakes._**

 ** _I trust that when you read this, you will be mature enough to understand all of the reasons for this decision as well as how difficult it was to make. At the time, there was no other choice. To let anyone know that you were not Lynn and Edward's child; would surely have exposed you to certain danger. I assure you, however, that the decision was not made by me alone._**

 ** _Your parents, your birth parents, requested that you be kept safe at all costs and that your true identity be concealed until such time as it would be safe for you and the world to know who you really are. As you are now reading this, I believe your adoptive parents feel that it is time._**

 ** _Attached to this letter are your real birth certificate and a detailed report of the circumstances surrounding your birth and the death of your real parents, Matt and Kitty Dillon._**

 ** _What you do with this information from this day forward is up to you, but I sincerely hope that you cherish and celebrate the legacy left to you by these two individuals who gave so much and endured so much to make the world a better and safer place for you._**

 ** _Sincerely, Dr. Galen Adams, M.D., Dodge City, Kansas._**

With a deep breath, Esther reached over and took the papers from her grandson's hands. Quickly looking over the documents she finally looked back at Jack. "The details in these papers closely match what you have written. Seems you got most of it right. You know what this means?"

Jack shook his head. "Yes and no. I mean, it's proof that we're descendants of Matt Dillon and Kitty Russell but…"

"But what?"

"But why now?" He searched her face for an answer. "Why tell us about this now? And why was this envelope unopened? And what does it matter?"

Esther looked back down at the paperwork and considered his questions. "I don't know, Son." She finally looked back up at him. "But I know a way to get the answers."

"How?"

"We go back to where this started." Esther answered as she rose and held out a hand for him. "Come on."

"Where to?"

"I'll tell you on the way."

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: SuzyQ. Thank you! I am humbled.**

Jack pulled across the cattle guard, through the heavy iron gate and parked at the edge of a large swath of land, his family owned. Though it wasn't a physical part of their ranch, it'd been owned by them for years. Well, actually, it'd been owned by his grandmother and her father before her.

"Alright, Grandma." Jack sighed as he parked the Bronco and took a look around at basically nothing, save the hay field they worked every summer and the few head of cattle they hadn't yet moved closer to the ranch. "What's here that could help us?"

"You'll see." She smiled at him as she got out of the truck and struck off to the east.

Having no choice but to follow, Jack quickly got out and headed after her. "Where are we going?" He asked curiously, seeing nothing to go to.

"It's just over there." She nodded towards a lone cottonwood.

Jack kept his own counsel as they approached the tree and he began to look around. Though he'd been on the land many times since he was born, he couldn't ever really recall this tree or this specific area. Glancing around him, he noticed what looked like a vague outline of a building of some sort. "Was there a barn or something here?" He asked.

"No, the house was here." Esther said with no hesitation. "The barn was just over that way." She pointed to the left, not far from where Jack had parked. "This is where Matt and Kitty Dillon died." She looked back at her grandson, hoping he'd understand the significance of that.

Jack did as he knelt down and touched one of the wide stones of the old house's foundation. "Are you sure?"

Esther nodded. "Until today, I never understood the importance of everything. But, when I was a young girl, my father brought me here and told me that this land was mine and that I should never let it go no matter what I had to do to keep it. He told me the Dillon's and their child died in an old farmhouse that stood here and that he bought the land as soon as he turned 18. He told me that this place held treasure that couldn't be dug up or sold and he couldn't let it go and I shouldn't either."

Jack looked up curiously at his grandmother. "Couldn't be dug up or sold?"

Esther nodded. "Like I said, I didn't understand until now."

Jack shrugged as he got back to his feet. "I still don't understand."

Esther moved over to a large rock and seated herself carefully on it. "Sit down here, son and I'll tell you what I believe is the rest of your story."

As Jack obediently took a seat on the ground next to his grandmother, Esther patted him on the knee than took in the surrounding landscape in a wide sweeping glance, collecting her thoughts before she spoke. Finally she looked back down at her heir, Matt and Kitty Dillon's heir.

"I guess, I'll start where you left off." She decided.

"You mean where they died and your dad was adopted out?"

Esther nodded. "Yes. You know, I don't believe my father ever knew for sure that he was adopted. From what you've found, it doesn't look like Lynn and Edward ever told him the truth. Why, I don't know, although I can guess it was to not only protect him but themselves as well. The fact that that envelope wasn't opened, proved that. But I think, even though he didn't have any proof of it; he suspected something."

"How?" Jack frowned. "I mean if everyone that did know, kept quiet…"

"And they did." Esther stated. "But think about it. From everything I know and what little I remember about my grandparents, Daddy didn't look like them and from pictures I've seen, the older he got the more he resembled his real father, Matt Dillon. Tall, broad shouldered blue eyes, reddish brown hair. That certainly was nothing like the people who raised him. I'm sure he wondered about that. And I was told that when he turned 18 he was given a given a bank book that listed a very large sum of money deposited into the bank under his name."

"That's where he got the money for this land." Jack assumed.

Esther nodded. "Uh hum. I think it was his real parent's money, put up for him until he was of age, probably by Dr. Adams."

"But if he didn't know the significance of the Dillon's death, to him at least, why buy this place?" Jack asked. "Did he plan on putting another house here or…"

"My father was like you." Esther answered. "Only, I don't think he was as willing to accept it as you've always been. I remember as a little girl, he'd come out here every once in a while, right here to this very spot and just sit and look around. He brought me a couple of times but…" she shrugged, "I was a kid. I got bored easily and so we usually wouldn't stay long and we'd come home."

"Did he ever say anything?" Jack wanted to know. "I mean did he tell you why he came out here?"

Esther nodded. "Just once. He said he felt a pull of some kind that would drag him here from time to time. He didn't know what it was or anything but he couldn't resist it. That was why he bought this land in the first place. He didn't even know about the Dillon's dying here at first. He found that out later."

"You think Matt or Kitty or maybe both of them are what called him here, don't you." Jack wasn't asking. He knew grandmother better than he did his own mother sometimes.

"I do." Esther confirmed. "And I think if you and me just sit here quietly for a bit, we just might meet our ancestors."

Jack pursed his lips as he nodded and then settled back to wait. Reaching up, he grasped his grandmother's hand and the two, relaxed, watching the prairie around them, waiting for the past to catch up to the present.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

An hour passed since Jack and his grandmother had taken a seat on the crumbling remains of what had once been a farmhouse foundation. The air had gotten chillier and the shadows were lengthening. Jack turned up his coat collar and looked over at Esther, sitting impassively beside him.

"You okay, Grandma? Warm enough?"

Esther nodded as she continued to scan the empty prairie around them. "I'm fine boy. I've just been sitting here thinking of my father and his parents, his real parents. It sure must've been hard for them. This land was always kinda wild, still is in some spots, but I figure it was even wilder back then, especially for a lawman and anyone he loved."

"Yeah, I guess it was." Jack agreed. "You know, to be honest, even as much as I've studied the history of the frontier, particularly this part of it, I never really considered that angle of things until I started working on this story and helping the ghost."

Jack paused and looked over at his grandmother. "You know it's funny. I still don't know who the ghost is or whether it's male or female. I've been thinking of it as a 'him' but I don't really know."

"Well, boy, I have a feeling we're fixing on finding out." Esther said as she stiffly got to her feet and began to look around.

Feeling it too, Jack rose to stand beside her. The wind had picked up imperceptibly and grown colder but for a couple of moments there was nothing other than the heavy feeling in the air to indicate something else was going on. Jack rubbed the back of his neck and looked uncertainly around.

Suddenly, Esther reached out and grasped his arm. "Look." She whispered urgently as she nodded towards the center of where the house had once stood.

Jack followed the direction of her gaze and his eyes widened as he saw a slight mist began to appear, grow darker and larger and finally form into a human form. A female form.

"You found it." The beautiful woman smiled. "I've waited a long time for that."

"Yo… you're…" Jack stuttered. He'd heard ghosts most of his life and even spoken to a few but he'd never been face to face with one before as he was now. And never with one this beautiful that he was related to.

"Um, hum." She nodded with a smile. "I'm Kitty. And you are my granddaughter and great, great grandson."

Esther took a shaky step forward to see the woman that she'd heard about and hadn't known was related to her until this day. "Why?" She asked simply. "You told Jack you wanted the truth to be known. Why? Why now after all these years?"

"Now?" The stunning specter raised a ghostly brow. "It's not just now. I've wanted this for many, many years. But until Jack came along, I couldn't get anyone to hear me. Or at least to admit that they did."

"But why?" Jack repeated his grandmother's question. "Why was it so important that we know the truth now?" He wasn't angry, he was curious and it reflected in his voice.

"It was never meant for my son, your great-grandfather to not know who he was or where he came from." Kitty answered. "When Doc Adams left him with the Livingston"s, he specifically asked them to let him tell Matthew who he really was when he got old enough to understand, or at least give them his letter and to tell him themselves if he wasn't able to."

Esther dropped her head, sorrowed at the sadness in her ancestor's voice. "You came to my father, didn't you?"

Kitty nodded. "I did. I think he knew I was there but he refused to acknowledge me. Too much like his father, I guess. I believe my child and grandchildren or more like Matt than they are me. Too practical and hard headed to accept something they can't see or feel."

"But not me." Jack spoke up.

"No," Kitty smiled gently. "Not you. You accepted me completely even though you couldn't really see me and didn't know exactly who I was or what I wanted. I'm glad of that."

"So…." Jack glanced at his grandmother's still awestruck expression and then back at his great-great grandmother. "Now what? I mean, I have the story written that I believe you wanted me to write but other than to let me and my dad and grandma know that you're related to us, what's the importance of it?"

"Jack!" Esther snapped at him. "That's rude."

"No." Kitty shook her head. "It's an honest question and he's right. I did have another reason for all of this. I want you to set the record straight on Matt."

"What record?" Jack frowned.

"On what happened the day we died." Kitty answered with a saddened expression at the mere mention of the day. "He came onto this farm to save my life and the life of our child. He didn't murder anyone but Blake Skidmore's cousins, the Stark's, said he did. I've tried for years to get someone to show that he didn't. The truth of it. But until you agreed to help, I've not been able to."

Jack and Esther exchanged startled glances. The Starks were a well-known and ruthless clan that had lived in Dodge for years. No one liked them too much but they had enough money to insure that no one was able to do anything about them.

"I don't know why I never even thought of them." Esther shook her head. "I do remember hearing about that so called best seller that Ike Stark wrote years ago, accusing Matt Dillon of murder. I guess, it was just so long ago, it slipped my mind."

"But if it was that long ago," Jack frowned. "Then why is it so urgent now to tell the truth?"

"It's not just now." Kitty sighed. "I've tried several times over the years to get our son, Matthew and you, Esther, and even your son, Tim to pay attention to me. But until Jack here not only listened but actually did something, I didn't think I'd ever get the word out that Matt didn't murder anyone."

"I still don't understand why it's so urgent now though." Jack restated with a touch of irritation. "It was a long time ago."

Kitty sighed. "The Starks are going to have that book reissued and they're going to put their version of events into a story for something called a..." Kitty stopped looking for the word. "A movie." She finished. "Matt was no coward and he didn't murder anyone. Please. You have to help me prove that."

"Does Matt know that you're doing this?" Esther asked.

Kitty nodded. "He does and he doesn't agree with me. He says I should just let it go. But I can't. I want his name cleared." She looked again at Jack. "Please. Help us."

Jack looked at the beautiful shimmering image in front of him and knew he had no choice. "I don't know exactly how, but I will make sure the truth is known."

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

"Well?" Esther looked over at her grandson as they drove away from the pasture and former farm. "What do we do now?"

"We?" Jack looked askance his usually frail looking grandmother.

"Yes, we!" Esther answered. "It's pretty clear to me that both you and I and probably even your father are involved in this. It's a family matter now, not just some story you're writing and we need to take care of it as a family."

"Well, I don't disagree with you." Jack shrugged. "But I'm not sure what 'we' could do. I don't even know what more I can do. I mean, I don't have a publisher or anything for this story and even if I did, it'd be a while before I could get it out and the Stark's would already have their lies out there. And you know how people are, they'd rather believe a lie than the truth."

Esther nodded glumly. She certainly did know how they were. But as she considered the situation, a thought occurred to her. One her grandson might not like, considering his mother's opinion on the supernatural, but the only one that might work.

"Jack," she looked over at the boy who she now realized actually resembled his forebear, Matt Dillon. "I've got an idea."

Later that evening, Esther and Jack sat in the living room facing Jack's parents, Polly and Tim. Though Jack insisted he be the one to tell them everything, Esther refused his idea. She knew her son better than most and he'd listen to her before he would his son. And she would need him to listen to her so he could convince his wife of the facts.

"And you're telling me, that some female ghost wants you to bring attention to this fictional story of Jack's so that 'the truth' would be known?" Polly arched a brow, not believing them in the slightest.

Esther ignored her daughter-in-law's sarcastic tone as she concentrated on her son. "It's the truth, Tim. You know I wouldn't say it, if it wasn't."

Tim sighed. Truth was, he did know his mother and he knew that she wasn't a fanciful person that imagined things like that. Besides, he himself had on the rare occasion seen or heard things that couldn't normally be explained. Still, this wasn't an occasional weird feeling or unexplained noise she and Jack were describing. This was something a great deal more.

"This is ridiculous." Polly fumed beside him. "Ghosts don't exist and if they did, they wouldn't be begging some kid and old woman to do their bidding for them, whether they were related or not."

Tim glanced over at his wife and then back at his son and mother. The looks on their faces decided his course. "Polly." He said firmly yet softly. "I understand your views on this, I always have. But I know the truth when I hear it and I know my son and mother. They didn't make this up and if they want my help on this, they'll get it."

"But, Tim…"

"NO, Polly!" Tim raised his voice enough to make it clear he'd hear no more arguments on the subject. Though for most of their marriage, Tim had passively allowed Polly to take the lead more times than not, he wasn't about to do so in this instance. He had a feeling what he was going to do was going to help more than a long deceased relative.

Looking back at his son and mother, Tim lowered his voice again. "I have a friend from the army. Mitchell Garrett. He's a reporter for KLRM news in Wichita. I'll call him and see what he can do to help us get this out."

Jack's eyes widened as he exchanged glances with his grandmother and then looked over at his glowering mother. "Mom, I…"

"Don't." She said coldly as she got to her feet. "You all can play around in this folly if you want to but I refuse to have anything to do with it." Getting to her feet, she stormed out of the room, stomping up the stairs to the bedroom she and Tim shared.

"Dad…" Jack started to rise but Tim waved him off.

"Don't worry about it, Son. I'll deal with your mother. You and your grandmother gather all the information you have and get it ready for Mitch. Include everything. The more factual, the better. I won't guarantee that Mitch will help us, but I think I can persuade him."

As all three got to their feet, Tim turned towards the stairs, but Esther reached out, placing her hand on his arm. "I think you'd better let me talk to your wife, Son. I have a feeling I know what's wrong and you need to let me handle it. Okay?"

Slowly, Tim nodded. "Alright. But know that no matter what she says, I will still do what I promised."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that." She smiled up at him before she turned and climbed up the stairs and crossed the hall to her son's room. "Polly, I'm coming in." She stated loudly as she grabbed the knob and walked in.

Polly, sitting in her husband's chair by the window, didn't look up or even acknowledge her mother-in-law. Stubbornly, she continued to stare out into the yard, tears in her eyes.

With a sigh, Esther lowered herself onto the bed behind her daughter in law and silently watched her for a moment. She'd never said anything to the woman about her knowledge of certain things before, but now she knew she had to.

"You've seen him, haven't you?" Her question was simple, yet direct.

Polly nodded. She understood she could no longer hide behind a steadfast denial of what had been a very real and frightening experience. And she wasn't surprised that Esther knew that. She'd long suspected that Esther knew a great deal more than she ever let on.

"It was right after Tim and I were married and I moved out here." She shuddered at the memory. "Late one afternoon, I went out to pull in the washing and he was…" She swallowed hard. "He was just standing there. He… he looked so sad and he…" She couldn't continue and she buried her head in her hands as Esther rose and stepped over to her, wrapping her arms the younger woman as she broke down into sobs.

"I saw him when I first moved here too." She whispered. "Tall, broad shouldered, black hair streaming out behind him, black eyes, black as coal, just staring at me. I saw the same sadness. Scared you; didn't he."

Polly nodded against her mother-in-laws chest. "Uh, huh."

"His name was Blue. He was a Kiowa Chief. He died on this land. His body wasn't buried here but I believe his spirit was. My husband told me a long time ago that there's a legend that his wife died here too. Could be, that's why he comes to all the women in this family."

Polly pulled away from her mother-in-law with a frown. "All?"

Esther nodded. "My husband's mother and his sister saw him too. To my knowledge, the men never have. And if you're wondering why I've never said anything about this to you before, it's because I was waiting on you to want to discuss it. I can't force you or anyone else to accept something like that unless you're willing to."

Polly dropped her head. "And I've not been willing to. But now…" She sighed deeply as she looked back up and gained her feet. "Well, I guess I need to now because my son and my husband and you need me too."

Esther grinned as she stood beside her daughter in law. "That's the spirit."

For the first time, Polly smiled. "Don't you mean 'that's the Ghosts?"

"Yeah." Esther nodded. "Yeah, I guess I do."

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

**AN:CBloomer, yes, Blue and Matt were friends and that's why I gave him a brief mention. Thank you for remembering that.**

Though Mitchell Garrett was skeptical of Jack's tale being too newsworthy at first, he agreed, for Tim, to do a sort of human interest piece on it and see what happened.

A week after his very brief report about a Dodge City family finding themselves related to the Famous and infamous, to some, US Marshal Matt Dillon, he realized he was wrong about the story's impact. Calls were coming in from all over the country and overseas, inquiring about it and he soon found himself driving west to Dodge to do an in-depth interview with Jack and his family. He had no idea why this little story was important but he was going to find out.

When he arrived at the ranch, he realized he wasn't the only one that wanted to do an in-depth interview. There were four network vans, and six cars parked at the closed entrance gates of the Bowers ranch with angling antennas and heavily made up reporters either standing around or doing small remote spots about the information just brought to light.

Sitting in his rusted old Ford on the other side of the gate, Tim saw Mitch pull up and instantly got out of his truck and opened the gate for him to drive through. He ignored the surge of the other reporters and warned a particularly insistent one to back off or else. One look at his tight lipped expression and the man blanched, quickly stepping away from the gate.

"Tim?" Mitch put out a hand. "What in the world…"

"Long story." Tim shook hands with him and gestured to his truck. "Get in and on the drive to the house, I'll tell you what's happened since your report. Leave your car. With this much media around, no one will bother it."

Mitch nodded, climbed into the Ford and sat back as Tim started the truck and his story.

"They're threatening to sue?" Mitch asked unbelievingly a few minutes later as he and Tim sat in the truck outside of the ranch house.

Tim had relayed to him that after the brief story he'd aired, the Starks had come forth, furious that the Bowers were proclaiming Matt Dillon to be a hero in the incident which claimed his and his wife's life. And they were sorely upset that the Starks' relative, Blake Skidmore, had been portrayed as a despicable bandit who'd kidnapped Kitty Dillon and was responsible for her death as well as the death of her husband.

"That's what they're saying. They've not done anything so far though, just raised as much stink as they could." Tim shook his head.

"Do they have any more proof of their story than you do yours?" Mitch asked.

Tim shrugged. "I don't know. They claim they do but there's no real telling, although I doubt it."

"You need a lawyer." Mitch told him. "They may not sue but you need to be prepared in case they do."

"Already got one." Tim smiled as he reached for the door handle. "My wife's best friend from College. Come on in and meet her."

After the introductions were over and coffee served, Jack, his parents and grandmother as well as Robin sat with Mitch Garrett and Gina Ramsey discussing the situation. The Starks, it seemed, had been planning on re-releasing their book and trying to turn it into a movie painting Matt Dillon as a villain who had murdered an innocent boy named Hosey as well as others and killed Blake Skidmore in cold blood when he threatened to expose him.

Jack's research and subsequent story directly refuted that and would serve to quell any deal the Starks tried to make, if it could be verified. The Starks, of course, didn't want it to be verified and were beginning to make threats over it.

"Well," Tim looked inquiringly at the attorney and the reporter. "What do you think we should do?"

Gina glanced at the reporter and then looked back at Tim and his family. "Well, first of all we need to authenticate those books you have, Jack. We need an expert to state publically that they are not forgery's or fakes and really are Doctor Galen Adams medical record books for Matt and Kitty Dillon. We'll try to avoid telling anything about the book on Mr. Haggen or how you came about the photos of it. Then we need to also authenticate the other information you have."

"Well, except for the books, the other info we have was all obtained through a search of public records and legally obtained information from the internet." Robin spoke up.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "Robin and I made sure we didn't put anything down that we couldn't prove or at least didn't have a lot of circumstantial evidence for it."

"Good." Mitch put in. "That'll make things from the reporting end of this easier. I won't have to jump hurdles to get it past our legal department and into a full blown story."

"It'll make it easier in court too." Gina said. "If the Starks do try to sue, they won't have a leg to stand on. Of course, just because we have proof, it doesn't mean they won't still sue so we need to be prepared for that and then wait to see what they do."

"So is that all?" Polly questioned. "I mean we just authenticate those books and make sure we have proof of the info Jack and Robin compiled and then sit tight?" She was more accepting of this whole thing but she was still nervous about it.

"Well, that and be careful." Gina answered. "I did some checking on the Stark's before I came down here and they're not the nicest people. I'm afraid that when they realize their scare tactics and threats of a lawsuit don't work; they just might try something underhanded. I wouldn't want to see any of you hurt so make sure you don't go anywhere alone or anywhere around them."

Polly blanched at her friend's words. "Surely you don't think…"

"I wouldn't put it past them." Gina confirmed. "From what I found on them, they're not nearly as rich as they want everyone to think. This book and movie deal is important to them. If Jack's story gets out, they could be ruined. Desperate people make desperate choices and this could make them desperate."

Later that evening, after Jack and Mitch had left to take Robin home and pick up Mitch's car and Gina was settled upstairs in one of the guest rooms, Polly and Tim sat quietly talking. "You really think the Stark's will try to harm one of us or do something to stop us?"

"I don't know." Tim shrugged. "From what I know of them, I wouldn't doubt it."

"Well, what do we do then?" We can't just suspend our lives and wait for them to attack us?" Polly wrung her hands.

"And we won't." Tim wrapped an arm around his wife and pulled her close. "We're going to do just exactly what my Great Grandfather and Grandmother would've done. We're going to continue with our lives and do what we need to and be careful. If Matt Dillon and Kitty Russell could survive all they did, then we can survive this."

Polly looked up her at her husband with a smile. "I guess you're right and as long as you're beside me, I feel safe."

"Good." Tim rose and pulled Polly up with him. "Then what you say we go upstairs and feel safe together."

As the two left the living room and headed up the stairs, Kitty stood quietly and invisibly in the corner watching them go. She felt it her responsibility to watch over her family for as long as she could and she was determined to do just that.

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

**"Today, a victory of sorts was won by the family of the heroic, former Marshal of Dodge City, Matt Dillon, when the superior court of Kansas ruled in their favor against the Stark family who have maintained that he was anything but heroic.**

 **In a unanimous decision, the court has agreed to block the sale of a book, written by the Stark family, stating that Matt Dillon had been a murderer and bandit.**

 **Jack Bowers, a direct descendent of the famous marshal was able to provide irrefutable proof to the court that his great, great grandmother, Kitty Russell Dillon, had been kidnapped and murdered by a Stark ancestor, and his great, great grandfather, Matt Dillon, had only used his authority as Marshal in the attempt to rescue and save her. It must be noted here as well, that Matt Dillon also lost his life that same fateful day.**

 **The Stark family has vowed to continue fighting to get their version of the events heard but it is doubtful they will be very successful. This is Mitchell Garrett at the Dodge City courthouse, for KLRM news, Wichita."**

As soon as the camera went off, Mitch put down his microphone and smiled over at Tim and his family, standing nearby. "Congratulations, you all." He stepped over to them and shook hands with Tim and Jack and hugged the ladies.

"I'm not sure we could've done it without your help." Jack shrugged. "The publicity you gave this thing really helped."

"Yeah, well, it could've hurt it as well." Mitch said pointedly. "If you and Robin hadn't of had the foresight to make sure and document everything and get proof and those books hadn't of been authenticated… Well, it's more you and Robin's doing than anyone's."

"Speaking of Robin," Esther looked around. "Where is she?" A feeling of foreboding swept over her as she looked around, not seeing the vivacious red head anywhere.

"She stopped at the rest room as we left the courtroom." Jack answered with a frown. "But she should've been out here by now."

"Relax, son." Polly shook her head. "I'll go back in and check on her. We ladies take longer in the restroom then you men."

Jack watched his mother walk back into the courthouse and then looked back at his father. "We ladies?" He asked.

Tim chuckled. "Yeah, well…"

But the rest of his reply was suddenly cut off by a scream emanating from inside. With a worried look at his dad, Jack turned and raced inside, everyone else following him in.

Just as he got the center hallway, Jack came to an abrupt halt as he saw Justin Stark standing in the middle of the hall, arms wrapped tightly around Robin, a knife at her neck. His mother was standing in shock to the left, hand to her mouth. Just to the right and slightly behind, two courthouse deputies stood with their hands on their guns. They didn't want to draw and escalate the situation but they were prepared to pull their guns and fire should it come to that.

"Let her go, Justin." Jack demanded angrily..

Tim glanced uneasily at his son. Though Jack was tall and broad shouldered and muscular as a result of his working on the ranch, he wasn't much of a physical match for Justin. About the same age and height as Jack, Justin still outweighed him and was much more willing to do physical harm to someone to get what he wanted then Jack was.

"No." Justin shook his shaggy head of dark hair, black eyes blazing as he pressed the knife even closer to the frightened Robin's throat. "Not until you tell everyone that you lied. That Matt Dillon was a murderer." His lips curled back over his teeth as he spoke and spittle flew from his mouth like a rabid dog, frightening Jack more than he was willing to show.

"Son, you need to let the girl go." The deputy held out a hand trying to calm the angry young man. "Let her go and we can talk about this."

"Back off!" Justin demanded. "Back off or I'll hurt her."

Robin swallowed hard and looked over at Jack. She saw the fierceness in his eyes and knew that no matter what, he wasn't going to allow Justin to take her out of the courthouse or hurt her if he could help it all. Suddenly, she remembered tales she'd read of Kitty Russell and her actions when faced with the same thing.

With a smile at Jack and a slight nod, she suddenly raised a foot and ground her sharp heel harshly into Justin's tennis shoe clad foot. When he gasped and loosened his grip just slightly, she brought up an elbow and jabbed it hard into his midsection, causing him to let go of her completely.

Ducking, she just managed to get away from him when Jack took a flying leap and landed squarely on Justin's chest, knocking him to the floor and wrestling the knife from his hands while knocking him fairly senseless with a powerful back hand.

Swiftly, the deputies moved in, pulled Jack from the addled Justin as they got the battered bully to his feet and slapped cuffs on him. One of the deputies started for Jack, but Robin quickly stepped in front of her rescuer.

"You leave him alone. He didn't do anything but keep me from getting hurt."

"My client will be available for any questions you may have, Deputy." Gina spoke up. "But there's no cause to arrest him."

"He's right, Bud." One of the other deputies agreed. "He didn't do anything wrong really. We'll give a full report to the DA and let him decide if he wants to charge him with anything. Besides, we'll have enough to do, explaining how we let this one get in here with a knife."

As Bud backed off and he and the other deputies hauled Justin to his feet, Robin launched herself into Jack's arms, hugging him tightly. "My hero." She whispered.

Jack returned the embrace. "You alright?" He questioned anxiously.

"I am now." She answered.

TBC


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: This is finally the last chapter and I want to thank all of you for the wonderful remarks. I promise to get better at answering each of you individually, I promise. I am glad you liked Jack and Esther and Tim and Robin and Polly as much as I did. As for Blue... Well, let's just say, I have an idea or two.**

Though the DA gave Jack a stern warning about taking the law into his own hands, he declined to press charges against him for jumping a reckless man armed with a knife. Especially since the deputies assigned to the courthouse had failed to detect the knife in his possession in the first place.

Charges were brought up against Justin Stark for assault and attempted kidnapping and murder. But his lawyer successfully argued that the young man was under a great deal of stress upon learning that the book and movie deal his family had brokered, which would've saved them financially, had fallen through with the court's verdict in Jack's favor. He was given a short jail term for the assualt with the other charges being dropped and warned sternly that should he try anything else against anyone in the Bowers family or Robin, he would not be dealt with so leniently.

The Stark's family were still issuing threats and proclaiming to any who would listen that Matt Dillon's descendants were liars and his exemplary record was wrong. But few paid attention and the media refused to even answer a call from any of that family that tried to call them. One particular reporter doing a followup on the case learned and published the news the Starks were selling their long time Dodge City home and moving to Texas.

Robin and Jack reached a new level in their relationship after that little incident and they both realized that no matter what came their way from then on, it would have to deal with them together. Though neither one was quite ready for marriage, they knew when they were who they'd be marrying.

Polly and Esther came to an understanding like they'd never had before. Though they'd always been at ease around each other and had seldom quarreled, they now found themselves even more at peace in their relationship of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and more willing to spend time together. Esther's big leather chair in her room was going to see a lot less use as she spent more time with Polly.

Three weeks after the dust had settled, Jack walked into the living room, jacket in hand. Esther was right behind him, already pulling her coat on.

"Horatio?" Tim spoke up when Jack started for the door. "You two going anywhere I can't go with you?"

Jack didn't question his father's wish to go with him and shook his head. "It'd be nice if you came, Dad."

Tim exchanged a glance with his wife, got up and went to the hall closet, pulling out his coat. "Let's go, Son."

"Mom?" Jack looked over at her. "Want to go too?"

Polly considered it, but shook her head. Like Tim, she knew where they were going. "No, I think this is something for you three only. Go on. Just don't stay out too late and get yourselves sick."

Deciding to take Polly's sedan as it was easier to get in and out of, Tim turned the car for the dirt road leading off the ranch and to the land his mother owned. Not a one of them spoke. There was nothing to say, at least, not to each other.

The moon had already climbed high enough to see and be seen and cast a pale yellow light on the pasture as the trio of Dillon descendants walked across it towards the decaying remains of the old farm house.

"You think she'll come?" Tim asked.

"I don't know." Jack shrugged. "But we felt it important to try and see if we could talk to her."

Tim nodded with a hard swallow. He'd never doubted the existence of ghosts, but he'd never really seen one, that he knew of and he sure hadn't talked to one like his mother and son had. This experience would prove to be his first and maybe last, most frightening and maybe most exhilarating.

"She's coming." Esther whispered just as a slight change could be felt in the air and the wind picked up imperceptibly.

Tim followed her gaze and saw a white mist forming in front of them that grew more and more solid before a beautiful, red headed woman in a green velvet suit stood in front of them. Tim was too stunned to do more than just stand there and stare at the vision in front of him.

"You all did it." Kitty smiled graciously at the three. "You showed the truth and proved once and for all that Matt wasn't a murderer. I don't know how to thank you."

"You don't have to thank us." Jack answered. "He's our family too. We had to defend him."

"No you didn't." A deep male voice came from behind them, startling the three and they jumped, turning to see a tall man in a tan Stetson approaching them. "I told Kitty it wasn't important what anyone thought about me but she wanted the truth of it all to be out there."

Kitty wrapped an arm around the tall specter as he stepped up beside her. "It wasn't only for us, Matt." She stated, slightly reprovingly. "It was for them as well. They needed to know who they were and they needed to be able to hold their heads up with pride in who you were. Who we both were."

"I think we already knew who you were." Tim gained his voice. "Nothing the Stark's could've written or showed in some movie would've changed the truth for us. You two were heroes before we knew you were related and even more so now."

Jack flashed his father a grateful smile before looking back at his ancestors. "So what now?" He asked bluntly. "Will you ever come back?"

Matt looked down at Kitty and then back at his descendant. "Not likely, son, we won't. You accomplished all that needed to be done and we're at peace knowing that you three know the truth, the whole truth of everything. It was all that ever really mattered."

"But…" Esther stepped forward. "But we've not gotten a chance to really talk with you, or spend time with you. We want to know what's it's like where you are. And what about Doc Adams and Festus and..."

A smile graced Kitty's face at the mention of her friend's names. "Festus and Doc as well as Newly are all with us. They are happy and looking over their own families as Matt and I look over ours."

"But..." Esther wanted to protest.

"Someday." Kitty sighed. "Some far off someday, you and I will get all the time in the world to talk but not now. Now, it is time for Matt and me to go back."

"Back?" Jack questioned.

"Yeah." Matt nodded. "Back to where we belong. We've got people there, waiting on us."

"You mean my father?" Esther asked.

Matt nodded with a proud smile. "Yes. He turned out to be quite a man. I am proud of him and proud of all of you."

"I don't want you all to go." Jack stated sadly.

"I know, son." Matt smiled at the young man. "But we'll never be too far away and if ever you need us, then we _will_ come back."

Jack started to protest again but as quickly as his great, great grandparents appeared, they left leaving only a slight shimmer behind them which all too quickly dissipated.

Jack, standing between his grandmother and father, forced back a sob at their leaving. Through all of the research and the few times he'd talked to Kitty, he'd come to care about them and truly wanted them to stick around.

Esther felt the same and glancing at her son, she saw he did as well. Stepping closer, she wrapped an arm around Jack. "Come on, boy. It's time we went home. We'll see them again someday, just like Kitty said we would."

As the trio walked off, two ghostly figures, arms wrapped around each other stood and silently watched their departure before their forms began to fade and soon disappeared for good.

"Jack's a lot like you." A disembodied feminine voice whispered.

"Yeah?" A pleased male voice answered. "Well, I'm glad. And I think his girl, Robin is like you. Strong, smart and beautiful."

If anyone had of been there, they would've heard a feminine chuckle and a soft, "Come on, Cowboy. Let's go home."

And they'd also heard a deep male voice laugh and reply in return. "Yes, Ma'am." Followed by a brief pause, then a "See ya later, Jack."

The End


End file.
